


shadowhunters 99 and the worst case of all: heteronormativity

by melbopo



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV), Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempts at B99 style humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gun Violence, Jace Wayland is a Lightwood, Jewish Simon Lewis, M/M, Mention of Lydia Branwell, Mentions of abusive relationships/behavior, Mentions of racism and biphobia and homophobia, Minor Character Death, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-03-30 10:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 45,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13949535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melbopo/pseuds/melbopo
Summary: Magnus knows that becoming the new captain of the one squad in the whole state that has not one butbothof the younger siblings of his sworn enemy is bound to be a mistake but he deserves to be in charge of his own command. He knows how much good he can do with this leadership position. Who knows, maybe he'll even teach the nine-nine some new things as they solve Brooklyn's toughest cases.Maybe they'll even teachhimsomething.aka the shadowhunters as b99 fic no one asked for but I wanted to write!





	1. The Fall of Prince and the Rise of Dolly Printon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give a MASSIVE shout out to my incredible beta and friend claire ([@sunshinerosende](http://sunshinerosende.tumblr.com/)) for all the edits, tips, and reassurance through my first big bang ever!!! You are amazing and were such a big help to me (especially with my last minute plot panic), can't wait to continue this fic with you!!
> 
> Second, warmest of thank yous to my amazing artist and friend alice ([@meliorn](http://meliorn.tumblr.com/)) for the wonderful graphics you see here!! Another source of delight and encouragement in my life though this process!
> 
> Last and not least, thank you to the kick ass fellow mods that helped run this event despite juggling full course loads, new jobs, moving, and everything in between! We did it and I wouldnt have survived without you all. Also thank you to the ~senpais~ for all cheerleading as well!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!!

  
  
  


People always say that the first step taken is the worst. That truth can probably be applied to the first of pretty much anything. First dates, first jobs, first fights, first _anything_. Especially the first day of a new job. Especially when that new job requires being in charge and responsible for the two siblings of a sworn enemy.

But the first steps towards this dreaded job were already taken so he might as well get on with it because any leadership position is better than none, even if that job is not as great or powerful as Deputy Commissioner.

Magnus hasn’t even stepped out of the elevator onto the floor of his new precinct and he can already hear the squad, _his_ squad, talking about him. He can’t see any of their faces from where he stands, paused with everyone’s back to him, but he can definitely make out the voices of the two Lightwood siblings. He takes the moment to eavesdrop, a rare opportunity to glimpse into the team’s candid feelings about him. God, it feels like moving to New York and being the new kid at high school all over again.

“I really need us to get a good captain if I ever want to make captain within this century. I need my own Michael Scott.” Magnus is a little surprised to hear a pop culture reference from a Lightwood.

“What?”

“You know, like my own Yoda or senpai or… or rabbi! A _real_ mentor.”

“First of all, you know using using the word ‘rabbi’ turns me on which is unfair in the work environment. Second, whoever they are, they are probably just going to be another uptight rule following robot that is obsessed with upholding the law.” The Lightwoods aren’t Jewish so Magnus knows that voice is one of the six other squad members.

"Meep morp the law is the law meep morp." Definitely a Lightwood.

Magnus has heard enough. He grits his teeth, pushing down his anger by will alone. So much for the self pep talks all weekend about how the Lightwood siblings couldn't _all_ be that bad. Magnus pulls up his defensive walls, his face becoming carefully neutral with an icy tone as he walks fully past the gate and into the bullpen to address his new precinct that gathered to laugh at jokes at his expense.

"Isn’t our duty as detectives to solve crimes, which are direct obstructions of the law?"

"Oh heyyy new captain!" The voice exclaims with surprise. Magnus knows they aren’t a Lightwood with their chestnut brown hair and light tawny skin, but they were bouncing off robot captain jokes with the blond Lightwood just moments ago. "Didn't see you there!"

"No, please don't let me interrupt you two. You were just explaining how I'm going to be a law following, rule pushing robotic captain and I'd like you to continue."

"We meant that in a good way!"

The blond Lightwood, Chace or something generic like that, chimes in too now, cheeks burning red, "Yes exactly."

Magnus raises one eyebrow, looking from one to the other with an expression that reads annoyed disbelief loud and clear. "The robot voice."

The two look at each other out of the corner of their eyes. The blond Lightwood goes first, in a stilted and awful imitation robot voice, "Meep morp I'm your new captain meep meep."

"Meep meep of the Brooklyn nine-nine precinct morp meep."

After the brunette stops with his robotic arm movements, Magnus stands there in the uncomfortable silence that falls amongst the group for a moment. Both the offenders are looking at their shoes and refusing to make eye contact like the ashamed children they should be. "Those are terrible robot voices."

"Yes."

"Absolutely."

Magnus sees the long dark haired brunette Lightwood stifle a chuckle into a cough at the meek responses. Maybe just 2/3 of the Lightwoods are intolerable. He focuses his attention on the short haired brunette with the awful robot impersonation again. "And next time I see you, I'd like you to be wearing a tie."

Magnus leaves the gathered group now, heading for his office in the back, already craving the solitude that he knows it will bring. A voice calls him back, "Actually, our old captain didn't care if we wore ties or not. Plus not all of us can pull off a tie like Jace can."

Magnus turns on his heel to face them again, face neutral to keep his visible aggravation to a minimum. His voice leaves no room for argument as he addresses the brunette meep morper, "I don’t care about whether or not you can ‘pull off a tie’ and as your new commanding officer, I would like you to follow dress code protocol."

That reminds Magnus that he still hasn't introduced himself to the whole precinct. He takes a deep breath as he looks across the bullpen, "Good morning squad, my name is Captain Magnus Bane, the new captain of the nine-nine."

The long haired Lightwood’s eyes light up, the green undertones in their smooth light tawny skin coming through even in the miserable fluorescent lighting. "Speech!"

Magnus glances over at them, appreciating their sharp winged eyeliner though he is definitely back on the train of thought that _all_ the Lightwoods are a nuisance. "That was my speech."

They nod their head to themselves. "Short and sweet. I love it."

"Sergeant Garroway, a word," Magnus calls, finally retreating behind the desk in his private office.

The tall, dark brown man in question enters Magnus's office, shaking his hand firmly over the desk. "Magnus."

"Luke," Magnus responds, relief filling him at seeing an old acquaintance from his training days at the police academy. Luke's a large part of the reason that Magnus even considered taking this position. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, sir." Luke's smile is genuine, the warm sentiment shared between them. "But I have been following your professional development."

"So you know how important this position is to me then," Magnus says with a simple raised eyebrow that Luke nods his head in the affirmative at. Magnus gestures at the desk between them. "Though, I'm not sure why it's not you that’s on my side of this desk when you definitely have at least eight years seniority on me."

Luke huffs out a laugh. "I usually prefer to lead with more on the ground, field work than behind a desk. Much less paperwork that way, even as a sergeant."

Magnus nods his head in understanding. He raises an eyebrow, "Then why do I hear that you've been on voluntary desk duty for the past year instead of out in the field?"

"My wife passed away a couple of years ago from breast cancer and I sort of threw myself into work even though I knew I wasn't in a great place mentally. It lead to me damaging some of my closest relationships and getting seriously injured out in the field. Even once I recovered from that injury and did my desk time, I still haven't really felt well enough mentally to get back into the field again."

Luke's voice is steady and honest, but firm like this is a decision he isn't ashamed of because he knows himself well enough. That's something about Luke, he's always been sure of himself, even when they were struggling through the academy together. It's something that Magnus also embodies so he always admired the trait in Luke.

"That makes sense - thank you for explaining." Magnus nods as he stands up from his chair, circling around his desk. He claps Luke on the shoulder. "Listening and taking care of your mental health is crucial, especially in this line of work where it can be so easily brushed aside from the negative stigma in the workplace culture. If you ever feel ready to change from desk duty, please don't hesitate to let me know and we can work through what that requires. I have a strong feeling that you are a crucial aspect of this team in whatever capacity you are able to contribute."

"Thank you, Captain Bane. I absolutely will, sir."

"Now, will you tell me a little bit about our squad?"

Magnus and Luke head towards the big office window with open blinds that looks over the bullpen.

"Definitely. First, we have one of our most fearless detectives who is as fierce and scary as she looks, Maia Roberts."

Luke gestures to a woman wearing a black leather jacket, with brown terracotta skin, tight black curls, and lips set in a straight line. While Magnus takes her in, she starts hitting the side of her monitor screen in frustration, articulating well what Luke meant.

"Next we have one of our hardest working detectives, Isabelle Lightwood. She's brilliant and has a big heart but a Lightwood, so she's competitive and always trying to prove herself. "

Magnus nods his head in understanding, hesitant to appreciate the organized and neat desk of the long wavy haired brunette since she is a Lightwood as he correctly remembered. Even now at 8:30 am on a Monday morning, she's filling out what seems to be a case file so Magnus may have a little bit of appreciation for her.

"Her brother, Jace Lightwood, is definitely more trouble. He's dedicated and smart but terribly stubborn and prone to childish antics. He has a bet with one of the other detectives against his sister and Maia for more arrests by the end of this quarter. While I don't know what the prize is, I do know that our arrest numbers are way up."

Magnus narrows his eyes at the blond Lightwood with light peach skin as he spins aimlessly in circles in his desk chair. Definitely a troublesome Lightwood like Magnus feared. A vibrant orangey-red head shoves at his chair while passing, not even looking up from their phone as they head to the desk in front of the office. "Who's that?"

"That's your assistant, Clary. She's actually an art major but when she couldn't find a job after college, I had Captain McGinnis hire her. She's bright, just not about science or cop stuff. She's strangely good at accomplishing random, hard tasks but also a major influencer of the group's dynamic, both negatively and positively. She's also my daughter."

"Ah yes, I do remember you mentioning her endless antics with a neighborhood friend when we were at the academy." Magnus watches Clary continue to text on her phone with one peachy pink hand while the other one scribbles something down on a pad of paper.

"Yes... and he's actually here too. He was the non Lightwood sibling in the robot incident this morning, Simon Lewis. He's one of the best detectives we have. He loves solving puzzles and putting away bad guys. But like Jace, he still hasn't solved the biggest puzzle of all: how to grow up."

"That is... well put," Magnus responds evenly, watching Simon as he does a silly shimmy in Isabelle's direction after successfully tossing a balled up piece of paper into the trash can next to her desk.

"Thanks - I talk about the squad a lot at my bi-weekly department mandated therapy sessions."

"You know my history and how much this position means to me. It was a key deciding factor of why I took this job despite both of the other Lightwood siblings being a part of the team and my strong desire to never interact with another person from that family again."

"They are a lot at first, but they warm up to you quickly. Though I'm not sure your initial dislike of them based on their brother is fully warranted."

"When it came down to the two of us, despite being five years Alec's senior, he was still chosen for the position of Deputy Commissioner over me. I dislike him _and_ them based on all the privilege of straight white men alone."

“Are you sure about that?” Luke asks with a raised eyebrow. The thought of there being any other justification for Alec getting the position over Magnus makes him release a chuckle out loud that eases Luke’s expression before continuing, "Well I can confirm for a fact that Isabelle doesn't fit two of those factors as a Latinx woman."

"It's the association of the principle that matters Sergeant Garroway," Magnus responds slightly petulantly, well aware that he is being childish but the exhaustion of constantly not being chosen for leadership positions because of his identities has worn him down over the years. Microaggressions are tiring.

"Right, sir. Can I do anything else for you Captain Bane?"

"No that's it for now, thank you Sergeant Garroway," Magnus remarks as he dismisses Luke while closing the blinds. Luke closes the door behind him and Magnus finally sits down in his leather chair, the desk empty and impersonal. He vows to himself to get something to decorate the space, to make it looks more like _his_ , make his presence known and blatant like he always does.

He’s always refused to bow or bend his back to hide any aspect of himself or his feelings and this captain position is no different. He takes out a stack of papers from his inbox, looking forward to the peace and solitude of mindless paperwork while getting settled into his job with a precinct that already doesn't like him.

It doesn't matter if they like him, Magnus reasons, all that matters is that they respect him and they will because if anything, Magnus is damn good at his job. It's the whole reason he's been able to make it this far and high in the department at all and no one, not even the siblings of his enemy nor the nine-nine, can ever take that away from him.

The respect from the squad comes much faster than Magnus expected.

Especially with the way that Simon and Jace seem to resist direct orders at almost every chance they get. Their attitude is directly grating on Magnus’s nerves, feeling like a personal slight against his character, instead of just two man babies that are used to having as much liberty as possible in their actions with little consequences, fighting discipline and rules.

Magnus even had to bench both of them to old case filing, _separately_ , for a couple of hours after they let their main suspect in a major murder case get away. It was the first murder case for the precinct under Magnus’s command. He’s furious that they were so careless, so unaware of how this looks not just on them but the squad as a whole, on _Magnus_ and everything he has worked so hard to build. The old case filing does them both good, especially Simon, giving him lots of idle brain time to churn through different clues and finally make a lead on where the suspect could be hiding out.

That’s where the majority of the nine-nine finds themselves right now: on a stakeout at a storage facility unit. Simon, Isabelle, and Magnus in one car with Jace and Maia in another at the other end of the building. It’s the beginning of Magnus’s third week but he can’t help but feel that he’s making a little bit of progress on Jace and Simon’s attitudes towards him, this case definitely helping with that.

Magnus even overheard Simon ask Maia the other day what her thoughts were about the new captain and she said she thought he was _cool_. It’s just one more person on Magnus’s side but he’ll take it because the longer Jace and Simon’s shenanigans drag out, the more draining this position will be.

“You know what I like most about stakeouts?”

Neither Isabelle nor Magnus bother to respond to Simon’s question, easy to ignore from where he sits in the middle of the back seat of the undercover car. Magnus isn’t entirely sure where Isabelle is with him as the new captain. He thinks she might be trying to suck up to him because she actually respects him and wants his approval but a bigger part of him remembers that she’s a Lightwood so she could be just waiting to stab him in the back at the last minute. The last part is a little dramatic but a couple of weeks of good interactions is not nearly long enough to soothe over old wounds.

Undeterred by their nonresponses, Simon continues on, “Protocol book states that there is no dress code for stakeouts so it can just be me and my zip up hoodie that makes me look like a college kid again.”

“Makes you smell like one too,” Isabelle remarks with a smug smile. Magnus bites down on his bottom lip to keep from smiling as well but the corner of his lip twitches up, giving him away. He watches in the rear view mirror as Simon smells the hoodie of his sweatshirt in offense. Isabelle continues, “Seriously, when was the last time you washed that thing?”

Simon pauses, thinking back for a moment before he shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter, it’s not important.”

For some reason that unsettles Magnus, as it does Isabelle, both of them make similar faces of disgust as they pull their heads back, eyebrows down, and scrunch their noses.

Simon pushes the hood of his sweatshirt back as he leans forward, resting both of his forearms on the back of Magnus and Isabelle’s seats. “Captain Bane, when I was filing those old case files, I saw your name on so many of them. Some really, really big ones like the dismantling of the Circle Mob. That trial was happening around the time when I decided to join the police academy and was definitely a major influence on me to become a detective instead of a musician.”

Magnus is a little surprised by this sudden change in conversation topic, well acquainted with one of the highest profile mob cases to come out of New York City in the past twenty years. The breakthrough he was able to uncover of the cult-like Circle Mob was their use of shipping containers and boats for a headquarters which mean they were always on the move. He remembers the rush of that break through like it was yesterday.

The reveal of Simon’s other potential career path definitely interests Magnus as well, he hums gently to show he’s listening.

“I’ve got to ask sir, why has it taken you so long to get your own command? I mean, looking at your case files, you should have had your own command years ago.”

Magnus smiles to himself, a little bit of that bitterness that he always carries around about the New York Police Department’s racism and homophobia coming through in the curve of his lips. He looks forward over the steering wheel. “Because I’m an outspoken and openly bisexual Asian American officer. I’m surprised you didn’t realize sooner, I’m not exactly subtle.”

Sure Magnus hasn’t been wearing eyeshadow that is the colors of the bi flag every day or solely ties that are the bi gradient. But he is comfortable in his masculinity and gender identity to wear _some_ makeup, whatever little bit he has energy for in the morning, and there is a small bi flag in the pencil holder on his desk, bi colored binders on the shelf behind his desk, and a framed newspaper clipping in the hallway of the precinct whose title reads, “NYPD PROMOTES ITS FIRST OPENLY LGBT+ ASIAN AMERICAN OFFICER TO CAPTAIN”.

“Wow, I am _not_ a good detective at all,” Simon mutters to himself.

Isabelle snorts out a laugh like she agrees before addressing Magnus, “I’m really sorry Captain, it must have been really hard to watch your less qualified straight, white coworkers get promoted instead of you. I’m glad that things are changing in the department, albeit slowly.”

Magnus turns his head to Isabelle, intrigued at what she is saying. He wonders if she is hinting at the fact that her own eldest brother got the position that Magnus so dearly wanted.

“Definitely too slowly - I was kept from leadership positions for most of my career but in the past couple of years, the department suddenly couldn’t wait to put me in visible positions. But in the public relations division, not in charge of a squadron. I took them because I wanted to prove that I was capable of more responsibilities. It allowed me to create LGBT+ police groups and raise visibility about conditions for minorities as well as improve our healthcare plans. But I never stopped applying to positions more in line with what I actually wanted,” Magnus remarks solemnly, feeling a bit of the tension in his shoulder relax as he willingly shares a bit of the burdens of his own path to here.

It hasn’t been an easy journey, so many doors closed, both blatantly and subtly, in his face along the way, but it’s one he is proud of just the same. He knows there is a lot of good he’s done along the way too and there is more good for him to do as captain of the nine-nine. “That’s why following the rules is so important to me - it’s harder for people to deny you that way. And now that I am finally captain of my own squadron, I refuse to give anyone the option to take that away from me.”

“That must have been so frustrating sir, I had no idea. I’m sorry.” Simon adds, voice sounding genuine in a way that surprises Magnus. But perhaps Simon too knows what it feels like to have multiple doors close simply for who he is as a Jewish Latino.  

“Understood, sir.” Isabelle sounds almost awestruck and Magnus isn’t sure if it is from his experience or the amount of personal professional background information he just shared with her. He is half expecting her to take out her notepad that he knows she keeps in her pocket at all times to jot down important aspects of his experience.

“Anddd back to the case at hand, that’s our perp! I was right - I take back what I said: I’m an amazing detective! Let’s go catch a bad guy!” Simon sounds borderline giddy at his lead coming to fruition as he velcros on his bulletproof vest.

It’s nearly contagious but Magnus resists, instead rolling his eyes as he too secures his vest. He reaches for the walkie talkie, “Roberts, suspect has been spotted. You and Jace work your way to the center, secure the premises. Remember your vests, the suspect is believed to be armed. Over.”

“Mission’s clear. We’re suiting up now. Over,” Maia’s voice crackles back over the walkie talkie before Magnus puts it back on the dash.

Isabelle, Simon, and Magnus file out of the car, tasers out and at the ready in case the suspect is actively armed. Methodically, they go down the rows of storage units, covering each other’s backs and verifying that the coast is clear. It’s pretty dull with the only person they run into being a custodian staff member who gives Isabelle a hard time about getting in the way of their mopping.

Once they run into Jace and Maia, they agree to split up again to look at the individual storage locker doors with only one joke being made by Simon at their expense of the pointlessness of door duty, referencing a complaint he had made only days prior.

Magnus has made it halfway down one aisle before a commotion two aisles over catches his attention and he turns on his heel, heading for the row that Simon went down only moments before. Magnus waits just around the corner with his taser at the ready, listening as Simon confronts Rufus, demanding that he put his gun down.

“Because if you look behind me, you’ll see Captain Bane and to your left, Detectives Roberts and both Lightwoods. My team has you surrounded.”

Magnus steps out from around the corner as Maia and Jace step closer to where Rufus stands in a storage unit, blocking all four possible exits.

“Oh my god! I get it now! The whole tie thing! We’re a team and the tie is part of our uniform! And you were finally given your own team so you want us to be in uniform like a real _team_ ,” Simon suddenly exclaims, his head turning slightly to look over at Magnus.

“And it’s protocol but very good Lewis, now back to the case at hand,” Magnus responds calmly, eyes never leaving Rufus, who still has a weapon in hand though it is not pointed at anyone.

“Wait, do you want Rufus to join your team?” The armed suspect in question asks, confusion in his tight eyebrows and uptick in his voice.

“What? No! Rufus, you aren’t part of the team. Put your weapon down on the ground, you’re under arrest for murder.” Simon sounds incredulous, taser and full attention back on Rufus.

Rufus raises both of his arms as he slowly leans over to put the gun down on the ground. The moment he does, he turns and heads down the row where Isabelle is. Maia quickly yells, “We got a runner!”

“I got him!” Isabelle exclaims as she extends her baton from her tool belt, hitting Rufus hard in the leg and causing him to fall face forward. She grabs handcuffs from her belt as she leaps over him, efficiently handcuffing his arms behind his back. She stands him back up as she reads his Miranda rights, “Rufus, you are under arrest by the NYPD for murder. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you desire an attorney and cannot afford one, an attorney will be obtained for you before police questioning.”

Maia walks up next to Isabelle, gentling knocking their elbows together. “Nice work Lightwood.”

“Thanks,” Jace responds from behind them.

Maia rolls her eyes. “Obviously not you.” She gestures her head to Isabelle, “This nerd.”

“And a proud one at that,” Isabelle says as she tilts her head side to side, smiling at the rare praise from Maia.

“I know - it’s cute,” Maia retorts, making Isabelle smile even brighter. She collapses her baton against her thigh and tucks it back into her tool belt. Maia laughs quietly to herself, “Nerd.”

As the squad heads to their cars, Simon playfully taunts Isabelle and Maia as his latest arrest brings him and Jace closer to their arrest lead. Simon stops before he opens the back seat of the car door, turning to Maia, Jace, and Isabelle. “After we bring Rufus in to the precinct, celebratory round at Hunter’s Moon?”

The question is met with a chorus of yeahs from the three of them. Magnus’s heart pains a little at being left out, not certain if it is because he’s their captain or if its because of his other identities that people have used as an excuse to purposefully exclude him from events in the past, even when he was just a detective like them. People say that the ache gets easier with time but Magnus knows that’s a lie, it just becomes normalized.

It’s fine, he shouldn’t be spending time with the people he’s in charge of anyway. Plus, he has leftover take out and a couple of episodes of _Black Lightning_ to watch on his DVR.

Maia turns her head back to look at Magnus, “What about you, sir?”

“Yeah, you gonna join us? Celebrate your first murder arrest as _captain_ with your squad?” Simon asks, nearly singing the last question.

“We can see if Clary and Sarge are still at the precinct and want to join us to make it a complete team outing,” Isabelle adds.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. Plus drinks are on Simon,” Jace says quickly before ducking into the passenger seat of Maia and his undercover car.

“What?!” Simon sputters, clearly betrayed. “You gonna pay my student loans and mountains of credit card debt, Lightwood?”

Jace pretends he can’t hear Simon through the window even though Maia’s door is wide open, shrugging with an fake confused expression. Simon mutters to himself, “Yeah, I thought so.”

He turns his attention back to Magnus who is just watching this whole exchange with a slightly amused smile at the blatant comradery and good relationship between the detectives in his squad. “So what do you say? Ready to experience Hunter’s Moon with the nine-nine?”

“I do love a good celebratory drink…” Magnus says, watching Isabelle do a small, excited fist pump out of the corner of his eye. The corner of his lips twitches up, “Especially if it’s free.”

Simon’s eyes widen, betrayed again. He lets out a defeated sigh. “Fine, I guess I can get my new captain his first murder case arrest celebratory drink.” He straightens up suddenly, pointing a finger at Magnus, “But just one. I’m serious about my credit card debt.”

Magnus climbs into the front seat of their undercover car, small smile lingering on his face as a result of their interaction. A small bit of hope blooms in the center of his chest. Maybe being captain of the nine-nine won’t be as miserable of a position as he originally thought it would be, Lightwoods and childish detectives included.

Maybe things really are changing for the better in the NYPD.

Things have been going… _better_ at the precinct but Magnus is trying not to get his hopes up that they will continue that way. For the most part, the nine-nine seems to respect him on some level even though they still do try to argue back about rules and following protocol, but way less than they were just under three months ago when Magnus first started. Magnus is surprised to say that he might even _enjoy_ his squad; they are all extremely dedicated, hardworking in their own way, and care for one another in a way that Magnus has never seen in any other precinct or department that he’s worked for. He may be getting attached to them, _all_ of them - Lightwood siblings and Simon Lewis included.

His enjoyment of his squad really is the only reason he’s _extra_ irritable about something as mundane as quarterly statistics right now. The end of his first quarter as captain is coming up fast and they’ve pretty much hit a slump in terms of case work the past half a month or so. Well a slump _isn’t_ completely accurate either. It seems that every time they are close to solving a case these days, Lydia Branwell from the Special Crimes Division swoops in and takes it from them.

The whole squad refers to her as the _Vulture_ and her behavior definitely warrants the nickname. Needless to say it’s catching on; Magnus caught himself cursing the Vulture’s name after she stole their third case in a two week time frame. The nine-nine really can’t afford to continue to lose cases at this rate; _he_ and everything he is riding on can’t afford to tank their arrest numbers. It is a crucial factor in measuring the success of a department which means it is a crucial factor in identifying the success and capability of Magnus as captain.

He needs their numbers to be good - no, _outstanding_.

The whole scenario has him on edge. Everything the squad does seems to aggravate him to no end, makes him snappy and annoyed towards them. It doesn’t help that he can hear when they speculate about his poor mood, annoyed back for his curtness and constant push for them to be productive.

He knows that they can’t possibly be working all hours of the day on solving cases but he does feel like they are sabotaging him a way, like they are purposefully alerting the Vulture about the progression of their cases so she’ll take them off their hands. It isn’t a terribly far reach - it does mean there is less paperwork for them to fill out which is a task that Simon and Jace absolutely despise.

But Magnus also knows that Isabelle’s actually complained that the Vulture stole her last case because it meant that she was no longer able to test out her latest organizational method and format for case files. She’s been trying to standardize the whole process with little success in her favor. While Magnus genuinely appreciates her efforts as well as file formatting, the rest of the squad (and other departments) are hesitant to jump on board because of the additional effort it entails.

That’s probably why Isabelle is still at the precinct with Magnus right now, despite it being 8pm on a Tuesday evening and their shifts ending hours ago. Magnus knows he is still here with hopes of completing a couple more case files to turn in before the end of the day to be counted for this quarter. Whereas he imagines that Isabelle is revamping her latest case file after Simon completed his portion of the report so that it reads consistently.

He changes his focus back to his computer screen, the blinking of his typing cursor taunting him because he knows that even with these handful of reports the numbers are still bleak. He sighs in frustration, annoyed at everything and anything in the moment: at Lydia for stealing cases, at the racism in the bureau as well as the homophobia and biphobia that tie his capability to lead simply to numbers, at his precinct for being childish buffoons that are often lazy with their paperwork which drags out the whole processing timeline.

He is well aware that some of his aggravation isn’t well founded but the whole situation is just _frustrating_. And now that Magnus finally has his own command that he is rather attached to, he doesn’t want it to be suddenly taken away from him if the department doesn’t think he can run the precinct successfully. If that is what happens, he’ll never get to be the Chief Deputy Commissioner.

A sharp knock on his door jars Magnus back to the present. He feels embarrassed at having lowered his guard enough to not notice someone approach his glass office. He draws his eyebrows down in a combination of anger and confusion, “Detective Lightwood?”

“I know you’ve been really stressed lately so I did a little research and found some good news that I thought you might like to read,” Isabelle explains, still hovering in the doorway. A thick binder report is held between her hands.

Definitely intrigued about whatever the hell Isabelle thinks has Magnus stressed (and maybe in need of a break from staring at his computer screen), Magnus gestures to the seat in front of him with a single raised eyebrow.

At the encouragement to continue, Isabelle talks as she walks into his office, “I know you’ve been worrying about our arrest records for the past quarter, especially with the amount of cases the Special Crimes Division seems to be taking, but our numbers have remained steady this quarter with last.”

“And how is that good news?” Magnus counters, bitterness coating his words. Staying at the same place as the previous shitty, absent, disorderly captain sounds like exactly the opposite for Magnus. At least the previous captain had white and straight privilege to shine his mediocrity into greatness - two privileges that Magnus absolutely does not have working in his favor.

“Our arrests stayed the same - that is the good news!” Magnus’s face stays purposefully blank, a single eyebrow raised in annoyance for wasting his time with bad news in the face of her excitement.

She opens the binder in her hand. “Look, I went back over the past fifty years of arrest records for the nine-nine and analyzed the arrests per quarter against whether it was the first quarter for that captain as well. In every single quarter there was a new captain, the arrests for the department would decrease. But we didn’t! We stayed the same.”

Magnus nods his head, looking over her detailed line graphs of the nine-nine’s arrests over quarters that are broken down into each captain’s career and include the quarter prior to their start. The graphs are well labeled, detailed, and show Magnus’s number as staying even, unlike every single other captain on the graph whom all have dips in the line for their first dot.

Magnus’s career length is noticeable as the smallest of the thirteen captains presented on the graph, comprised of only two points, but somehow it looks hopeful. He nods his head to himself as he flips through a couple more pages of the detailed report, reading Isabelle’s other analyses and conclusions as well as a detailed break down of the arrest types over the years.

“So you’ve been working on compiling this report instead of your actual cases?” Magnus’s voice is blunt, the bitterness dropping away but still annoyed because he was really counting on Isabelle to have all her casework in before the end of the day, even the case she solved that day.

Isabelle pulls her head back quickly in confusion. She shakes her head back and forth. “What? No. I just stayed after hours to put this together for you. Since the breaking and entering suspect in Simon and I’s case confessed today, I was able to put the report in the system with Sergeant Garroway’s signature instead of yours. I thought you could use one less file to approve to get everything in before tonight.”

“Good.” Magnus nods slowly to himself, trying to mask his surprise at Isabelle’s thoughtfulness and brilliance. “That’s good to hear.”

“Can I help you enter any of the files you have remaining?” Isabelle asks, expression genuine as if she doesn’t mind staying _even_ later to lend a hand.

“No I’m good,” Magnus says as he shakes his head back and forth. “I just have two left and then I’ll be done myself. Thanks for the offer though.”

Isabelle nods, smiling brightly as she stands up. “No problem. Always happy to help with paperwork, sir.”

“I know and I appreciate it,” Magnus says, the corner of his lips turning up at the truth in Isabelle’s words. One of the most beautiful and brilliant women he has ever met that also loves paperwork, organization, and her blood red industrial stapler that Alec gave her for Christmas one year that has her name _engraved_ on it. She’s pretty much the exact opposite of any sort of preconceived notions one would jump to at first glance, Magnus included. He’s glad that his perceptions of her were wrong, especially as a dreaded Lightwood.

“Oh and Detective Lightwood...” At the sound of her name, Isabelle stops and turns in the doorway. Magnus lifts up the binder she brought into the office with her. “Thank you for this too.”

Magnus didn’t even know her smile could become brighter but it does, her whole face lighting up at his praise. “You’re very welcome. Good night, Captain Bane.”

“Good night Detective Lightwood,” Magnus says, offering his own smile before returning to finishing up the file for the case in front of him. His whole body relaxes now, no longer feeling like his whole future in the department is on the line in this exact moment.

The nine-nine is doing good; _he’s_ doing good.

Magnus walks across the bullpen to his office, eyes focused on the report in his hands, Simon's latest case file. They've been working on bringing Simon and Jace's case filings on par with the rest of the squad’s, well at least with Maia's. Simon is definitely improving at a faster rate than Jace but they are both making good progress just the same. If they continue at this rate, maybe they'll even write reports as well and detailed as Isabelle before Magnus retires from the precinct.

“Good joke,” Magnus thinks to himself.

The buzzing of a fly catches Magnus's attention mid bullpen. He glances away from the report, searching for the source. Flies are never a good sign. To his left is Simon's trash where three flies currently circle, not surprising in the slightest.

Magnus slowly looks up to where Simon types away into a Google search bar. "Simon, did you finally throw away your science experiment of the actual shelf life of little debbie cakes in your _own_ trash after I've been warning you that it is a health hazard for the past month?"

Simon spins around in his chair to face Magnus. "What? No - I mean yes I threw it out. But like last week in the dumpster in the back so Jace and I could give it a true Roman burial."

"It definitely was living before we set it on fire," Jace adds from behind Magnus.

At the same time, Jace and Simon cross their right hand over their hearts and whisper, "Rest in Peace Lil Honey Buns."

Magnus eyes both of them warily, curious as to how long the two of them practiced that move together in case this moment ever arose. Upon second evaluation of the two of them and their close friendship, Magnus wouldn't be surprised if that was a completely organic moment.

"Then did someone throw out some of Isabelle's latest cooking experiment, grey-idge, into Simon's trash?" The bullpen remains silent at Magnus's question. "Or Jace's marinated cow's tongue that he shared last week?"

"Hey! I thought everyone loved my cow's tongue!" Jace protests, looking hurt as he glances around at the squad, many of whom refuse to make eye contact back.

"It was well seasoned and very tender," Magnus offers diplomatically.

"Jace, not everyone has the same... refined palate and food interests that you have. It definitely could have been cut differently to be less... _obvious_ as to what it was originally," Luke explains effortlessly, the rest of the squad nods along in agreement.

"Eating something that looks like a tongue is gross in American culture, Jace," Clary interjects without even looking up from her phone, not bothering to mince her words. Especially not when it comes to Jace. Isabelle told Magnus that she thinks it's because Jace and Clary used to sleep together when she first started. But Luke thinks it's because he's dating Jace's mom, Maryse, so they interact more like siblings, which is also the reason they stopped sleeping together.

Magnus thinks it could be a combination of the two but at the same time, he doesn't really care about the root cause of it, just the amusement that Clary’s no nonsense tolerance for Jace brings.

"Well, beef's tongue is a delicacy in dozens of cultures across the world. Do... better!" Jace huffs dejectedly as if his audience isn't predominantly people of color.

"Sir, I don't think maintenance has picked up the trash in at least a week," Isabelle suggests from her desk on the other side of Simon.

"Yeah, I'd say more like two weeks because I can still see the take out bag from when Sarge and I got chicken teriyaki for breakfast," Maia says from where she’s leaned over to examine her trash bin.

It seems suspicious to Magnus but he reasons to himself that there must just be some confusion with the maintenance department.

"I'll just go talk to maintenance and sort out this mix up then," Magnus announces to the squad.

"Want me to come with you?" Clary asks.

"No, I'll be fine. It's only a couple of floors," Magnus says with a small smile like the idea is touching but odd.

"Okay," Clary responds, already distracted by something else on her phone.

Magnus is the captain of the nine-nine, surely he can get to the bottom of this and get their office cleaned up quickly.

~~~

Not even twenty minutes later finds Magnus back from a short visit down to maintenance. He feels even more confused than when he left to sort the mess out and like he is missing a major piece of the overarching puzzle. Besides being extremely rude to him about the importance and value of not only their time but their job as well, they informed Magnus that cleaning their precinct was on the bottom of their very long list of tasks to accomplish so they will get to it when they get to it.

It definitely felt like a lie though because there were at least three custodial staff sitting in the office, almost like bodyguards to the woman in charge. Magnus must be missing something. He thinks over every bit of their exchange his whole walk back to the nine-nine.

"How'd it go Captain?" Maia asks with a head nod the moment Magnus enters the bullpen.

"Not well..." Magnus admits slowly, still processing what exactly just went down.

"Oh, did they give you a hard time too?" Isabelle's face is sympathetic like she too has experienced the verbal stampede from maintenance.

"That's because you were petitioning for a replacement microwave for the break room," Jace explains.

"A reasonable request! Ours is a death trap that sparks every time you microwave anything for longer than two minutes."

"Which is why we as an office have a strict pink sticky note policy to no longer microwave anything for more than one minute and fifty two seconds in one go," Simon says with a pointed finger as he looks around the bullpen to his fellow detectives, receiving confirming head nods in response.

"I hear you Captain, that's how I feel every time I try to talk to maintenance." Luke redirects the conversation back to Magnus's initial concern.

"Wait, you all knew that maintenance was difficult and you didn't think to _warn_ me?" Magnus feels slightly betrayed.

"I did offer to go with you," Clary states matter of factly which is fair, that should have ticked him off that it was not a solo undertaking.

"Have you had success talking to maintenance?" Magnus asks to Clary who is currently sketching with charcoal in the corner of her desk calendar.

"Don't think I've talked to them before but I've heard everyone else complain about them often enough."

"It's almost like they are angry we only go to them when we need something because they feel unappreciated and secluded from the whole precinct even though they're just two floors down," Luke suggests.

"Ohhh, they're the department that is on the second floor?" Clary looks up from her drawing now.

"Yes..." Magnus responds slowly, confused as to how Clary has interacted with anyone on that floor without realizing they were maintenance.

"The previous captain used to ask me to take a box of muffins from some insanely popular bakery to them every now and then."

"What bakery? The one on the corner of eighth and eleventh? It’s always packed when I try to go in but their scones aren’t as good as the ones from the Brooklyn Biscuit Company," Jace cuts in.

“Damn hipsters,” Maia mutters.

"I don't know... the box was plain and white. He just complained about the hassle of all the people every time he handed the box over to me."

"And you never thought to mention it before now?" Luke even sounds confused about this whole situation.

Clary shrugs before she returns to her sketch. "I just thought Captain McGinnis was poorly flirting with the head of maintenance, not bribing them with baked goods to ensure that the trash was taken out."

Magnus concedes to Clary's point, nodding his head back and forth as he thinks it over. Even with all the evidence pointing in that direction, it would seem a bit far fetched if he hadn't interacted with maintenance only moments before.

"I have a coffee cake muffin recipe that I won a blue ribbon with at the county summer fair for two years running. They are definitely moist enough to be bribery baked goods," Jace suggests, a bit of excitement in his tone about breaking out his baking expertise.

Magnus doesn't really have a plan outside of that one at the present moment so he nods his head in agreement. He points to Jace. "Let's go with that: continue the bribery but with new muffins."

"I'll even double the recipe so everyone can taste them tomorrow before we deliver them." The entire squad enthusiastically nods their head in agreement, always willing to be privy to Jace's baked treats, less so his cooking treats which tend to be a little more... nontraditional. "I wonder if I have all the ingredients... I'll just stop by the bodega in the Bronx to get the good cake flour on the way home to be safe."

Magnus nods his head along even though Jace isn't even paying attention, already making a list of what ingredients he needs. "Sounds good. Now that we have this inconvenience solved, we can all focus on our case loads again. Back to work squad!"

~~~

The next day Magnus finds the nine-nine in even worse condition than he left it in on Tuesday. There is trash literally _everywhere_. Bags upon bags of trash practically cover the floor of the precinct, not fully blocking any of the walking areas but definitely stacked up around the trash bins. It looks like enough trash bags for the whole _building_ which is the literal opposite of what Magnus had hoped to accomplish with his little… chat yesterday.

He can’t help but sigh in relief at the sight of Jace walking in from the elevator, an honest to god wicker basket with red and white plaid cloth held like precious cargo between his two hands. Magnus never thought there would be a day that he would be both excited _and_ grateful at the sight of Jace, especially not after being his commanding officer for just over eight months.

“You brought the goods?” Magnus asks, pointedly eyeing the basket.

“Of course!” Jace lifts the basket a little higher. “I was going to tweak the recipe a little to add in a new fruit related bit but I thought it would be best for the first time to go with the tried and ribboned recipe. If they approve, I can work on it next time.”

“Good plan.”

Magnus can’t believe this is his life currently. Besides managing cases and his detectives, he now has to add bribing maintenance to his list of expectations for the position. It’s almost too ridiculous of an idea to be true and yet here he is.

“Want me to take them down to maintenance after the morning muffin debrief?

“No!” Magnus says, perhaps a little too quickly as Jace looks confused and taken aback.

Magnus is well aware that Jace has a certain… _charm_ about him but it is one that doesn’t necessarily mesh well with just _anyone_. The head of maintenance is definitely going to be one of those who does _not_ enjoy Jace’s pouty face with cool kid demeanor when he’s trying to win someone’s favor. Which is why if the nine-nine actually _wants_ their trash to be taken care of in the next year instead of multiplying, it’s best they don’t send Jace.

“I think it’s best if we stick with Clary - they already know her because she’s done it before. She has an appointment this morning but I’m sure she can deliver the muffins before lunch.”

Jace shrugs, walking across the bullpen to place the basket on Clary’s desk. “Sounds good to me.”

~~~

Clary only just left the precinct with the muffin basket in tow when a certain tall person with long limbs, dark hair and pinkish beige skin walks into the bullpen. They raise an eyebrow as Clary passes without a word before their head quickly swivels forward again, eyebrows pulled forward in confusion at the mass accumulation of trash bags. They look up at Magnus sharply, expression slightly amused. “Did you have a party or something?”

“Or something,” Magnus responds, letting a bit of the aggravation over the situation bleed into their voice. “Just a mix up with maintenance, I’m handling it though.”

They extend their hand forward. “I’m not sure if you remember me Captain Bane, but I’m Alec Lightwood.”

In the past couple of months, Alec has taken to coming by the precinct every Wednesday to take his siblings out for lunch. Apparently he has weekly meetings in Brooklyn or something on Wednesday so he uses it as an excuse to see them. Magnus tries not to find it endearing how much the Lightwood siblings care for each other.

Even with those weekly visits the past two months, this is the first time Magnus has shared words with Alec since that day almost a year ago when they chatted briefly outside of the Deputy Commissioner’s officer before each of them had their final interview for the position. The position that ultimately went to _Alec_.

Something Magnus might not be over just _yet_.

“I know who you are. Hope you enjoy lunch with your siblings, Deputy Commissioner,” Magnus replies curtly, not even glancing at Alec’s offered hand before turning on his heel to retreat to his back office. He knows he should be more respectful to Alec because he is _the_ Deputy Commissioner but the nine-nine looks like a mess and Magnus doesn’t really have the emotional range to exchange pleasantries with his enemy at the moment. He wants this disaster over and handled so he can focus on more important things like how to get the Vulture to stop taking their nearly complete cases as well as coordinating the nine-nine’s surprise squad attendance to Clary’s art gallery showing that weekend.

~~~

Magnus watches from behind his glass door as Clary returns about twenty minutes later. She’s basketless now which Magnus takes as a good sign. He rises from behind his desk and opens his office door. Clary doesn’t even notice him as she sits down at her own desk, typing away on her phone. He clears his throat, making her jump in surprise. She glares up at him from her phone. “I could have fallen from my chair or dropped my phone!”

Her tone isn’t angry but definitely annoyed. Magnus rolls his eyes, aware that she hasn’t yet put two and two together that he wants an update on the situation. “But you didn’t. So how did it go?”

Clary narrows her eyes for a moment as if thinking over the event herself. “Ok. It could have gone better.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow when she doesn’t immediately continue.

“They said that we’re still late but they’ll get back to us.” She shrugs, “They kept the muffins though.”

Magnus squints, trying to understand what exactly that vague response means. It sounds like there isn’t a whole lot he _can_ do except wait though.

~~~

The next day the extra trash bags have been removed from the precinct floor but their own trash has yet to be removed. It’s a small step but at least it’s in the right direction.

~~~

On Friday the basket and plaid napkin are on Clary’s desk before anyone from the squad appears for work that morning. There is no note but there are no muffins left either. Magnus isn’t positive if this constitutes a response from maintenance or not but their trash remains untouched so Magnus has everyone take out their own trash to the dumpster behind the building before the smell becomes anymore unbearable.

~~~

Tuesday is when hell breaks loose in the precinct for lack of a better analogy. It’s lunch time and Jace is reheating his leftovers in the breakroom when the overhead lights dim slightly and suddenly from the room comes a loud yell, “FUCK!”

Simon and Magnus rush towards the small back breakroom where there is a table, couch, three vending machines, a coffee bean grinder and french press, a broken pool table and _the_ microwave. The microwave that is currently on fire and still sparking where the the plug connects to the box. Magnus grabs the fire extinguisher off the back wall, pulling the tab to break the seal, only slightly confused when it comes off much easier than expected.

Jace runs forward and grabs his precious french press before Magnus can douse everything in fire extinguishing foam. He points the head at the flaming microwave and pulls the handle back but nothing happens. He looks down at the fire extinguisher in concern. He shakes it slightly, hoping to jumpstart the process but nothing happens again.

Simon yells out the door of the breakroom to the bullpen at large, “FIRE!”

Suddenly Maia appears in the doorway with a smaller fire extinguisher at the ready in her hands. Magnus knows the fire extinguisher is too small to be a building mandated one but he doesn’t really have the time to question why Maia has her own personal fire extinguisher when the heat from the flames could cause the glass window that looks out to the bullpen to explode at any second. Luke’s desk is just on the other side of the window, a place they definitely don’t want to fire to spread.

From the doorway, she aims the nozzle at the flames and pulls the handle, releasing a white foam that fully coats the microwave, effectively and immediately dampening the fire. She points the nozzle to the outlet now, pulling the handle for good measure to cover the cord with the foam as well.

She puts down the extinguisher just as Isabelle appears in the doorway too. “I told you that microwave is a death trap! Is everyone alright?”

“Can you get me a plunger please?” Maia asks and Isabelle disappears again.

“I followed the sticky and everything! Mic Waveberg had no reason to betray me like that,” Jace protests as he continues to cuddle his french press close.

“I think it was just his time man - maybe he saw the light,” Simon consoles with a reassuring grip on Jace’s shoulder.

“Or he was sick of hearing your ‘can’t wait to eat’ song you sing while you wait for your food to heat up,” Clary suggests from the doorway where she has just arrived.

“Definitely that,” Maia agrees with a snort.

“At least it’s safe to say that your food is probably, definitely fully heated now,” Simon says with another reassuring squeeze to Jace’s shoulder.

It has the opposite effect though, Jace sags in defeat.

Isabelle reappears, slightly out of breath from her errand as she hands the plunger over to Maia. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Maia takes the plunger and swings at the microwave cord that is still plugged into the wall, successfully yanking it from the outlet. “The fire shouldn’t start again nor should it spread through the electrics now.”

Magnus nods his head in understanding, putting his useless fire extinguisher back on the ground. He takes in the complete shambles that the break room is in now, foam all over the microwave, table, floor, and wall with black scorch marks against the wall and a crack running through the glass. He’s going to have to try to talk to maintenance again. Fuck.

~~~

When Magnus visited maintenance on Tuesday they had listened to his request and story with little response before blandly telling him that he is _on_ the list and they’re doing the best they can, the fastest they can so they’ll get to him when they are able. It’s code for they’re going to continue to take their sweet ass time regardless of what Magnus has to say _and_ the more he complains, the lower he’ll be on the list and the longer it’ll take to get fixed. So about as helpful as the first visit went but a little less hostile. The muffins must have smoothed over some bits but not everything.

Which is why it’s now Wednesday but the trash hasn’t been taken out all week, two ceiling tiles are on the floor, AND there is now caution tape barring the break room window and doorway from entry. Everyone continues on with their work as if their surroundings don’t look to be in complete disarray so Magnus takes it as a small win. This whole fiasco has been really grating lately so Magnus is looking for all the silver linings he can find at this point.

“What happened to your breakroom?”

Magnus turns quickly, startled by the unfamiliar voice from next to him, surprised to see Alec regarding the precinct with a worried expression. Shit. Magnus forgot it was Wednesday which means Lightwood Lunches which means visits from the Deputy Commissioner. One of the last people that Magnus wants to see the messy state the precinct is currently in. He doesn’t want it to reflect on him and his capabilities as a leader, as _captain_. At the root cause, it isn’t his fault so he goes with the truth, feeling a little worn down over the whole situation.

“Your brother caught the microwave on fire but maintenance hasn’t been by to clean up the charcoaled remains yet.”

“Oh.” Alec’s face becomes contemplative, nodding to himself. “And maintenance was also the reason for all the extra trash last week?”

“Yes. There seems to be a lack of… resources,” Magnus supplies as kindly and simply as he can.

Clary and Luke walk by Magnus and Alec towards the elevators to go out for lunch. Who knew that Wednesdays were family lunch day? Clary adds nonchalantly as she passes, “The floor below us is moving so they’ve been extra annoyed about dealing with that all month.”

Luke turns to her with surprise, “I thought I saw moving boxes on Monday but how do you _know_ that?”

Clary shrugs as though it’s obvious and not the question that everyone in the immediate vicinity also has on their mind. “I have ears everywhere. Always listening.”

Luke squints in disbelief at Clary’s answer, cracking her resolve. She laughs to herself. “I’m kidding. Duncan from maintenance was complaining to me about all the boxes they’ve had to lift lately during their smoke break.”

“But you don’t smoke?” Luke sounds confused.

“I know. I was on an outdoor sketch break.”

“So that’s where you go for ten minutes every couple of hours,” Magnus mutters to himself, having assumed that she was on a smoke break. It makes way more sense now because her teeth are much too white to be those of someone who took that many smoke breaks.

“The handbook says I’m allowed the smoke break - I just don’t smoke during it,” Clary justifies before getting into the elevator with Luke. It’s clever and right up Clary’s alley.

Well the reason for the maintenance department’s sudden moodiness definitely makes more sense now with Clary’s tidbit of information. At least that bit of the mystery is solved but it looks like the actual issue won’t be resolved until whomever is on the third floor fully moves out and the new people move in.

“Well Jace staying up late last Tuesday making coffee cake muffins makes way more sense now.” Alec chuckles to himself. “Only the strongest of the strong aren’t swayed by his baking skills.”

Magnus can’t help the small smile that grows on his lips at the comment. Alec’s voice is fond like he’s personally well aware that he isn’t in that category from growing up alongside Jace and probably being a regular taste tester for his cooking adventures.

“Yeah, except maintenance wasn’t swayed _enough_ for they still haven’t come by the precinct,” Isabelle interjects as she joins them now. “They won’t listen to anyone, not me, Sarge, or even Captain Bane!”

“They still won’t listen to you?” Alec’s eyebrows are pulled forward in concern.

Magnus shrugs as he lets out a deep sigh. He knows it’s ridiculous and he shouldn’t let it get to him but he’s the _captain_ for crying out loud, he should be able to order maintenance to clean up a fire hazard at the very least. “No, every time I try to check in with them about it, they tell me I’m on their list and they’ll get to us when they can.

“That’s rude of them. You’re a commanding officer - a captain. They might not take care of the issue immediately but going over a day could lead to a health hazard.” Alec sounds genuinely worried about their health which is kind of touching but these are all points that Magnus brought up with them already. Magnus is good at his job, good at standing up for the people under his command.

“I know and I told them that. I’m handling it. They said they’ll get to it soon.” Magnus’s pride coming through just a bit as he feels his capabilities as a leader questioned by a superior, especially a straight, white man. Even if that wasn’t Alec’s intent, it’s a gut instinct in Magnus by now from years of being a highly vocal minority in the field.

Something passes over Alec’s face for a moment before he sombers, nodding his head. “Good - let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

“Thank you for the offer but I’m all set, Deputy Commissioner Lightwood.” Magnus’s voice is a little crisp, just the bare minimum of polite as his walls come up to guard him, securing himself from any potential judgements or attacks of his character.

“Join us for lunch?” Alec asks cautiously.

Magnus may have warmed up to Jace and Isabelle, but Magnus sees the work they do on a daily basis and is working towards bettering them. He doesn’t know Alec and barely tolerates him for the sake of his siblings. Magnus knows that it’s institutionalized racism and homophobia in the interviewing board that probably cost him the position of deputy commissioner but Alec represents all of those people to Magnus, looks like a younger version of literally every one of his previous supervisors so it still stings, making him feel like he’ll never be good _enough_ for the position as long as those same boring, racist, and homophobic people are in power.

“Can’t today - I have my own plans. Thank you for the offer though Deputy Commissioner Lightwood.” Magnus might be lying about his lunch plans though no one but him has to know the truth. Maybe he can text Catarina and bring her lunch at the hospital down the street.

Isabelle and Jace head towards the elevators when Magnus turns down the offer but Alec stays put next to Magnus. Alec nods his head. “Maybe next time then? And please, call me Alec,”

Magnus shares a tight, borderline fake friendly smile, curious about what exactly Alec is trying to get at with both the lunch invitation and first name. It feels like an attempt at a peace offering but one that Magnus refuses to accept right now. “Maybe. Enjoy your lunch Deputy Commissioner _Alec_.”

To Magnus’s surprise, his smart comment makes Alec chuckle as he shakes his head side to side. He remarks over his shoulder as he leaves to where his siblings are holding the elevator for him, “You too, Captain Bane.”

~~~

When Magnus walks into the precinct at 8:24 am on Thursday morning, the first thing he notices when he steps out of the elevator is that the coffee grind, old banana peel smell that had been permeating for the past week is no longer present. Instead the office smells like… Magnus takes another sniff… smells like freshly used clorox disinfectant wipes and _pine sol_.

He doesn’t even try to hide the excitement in his wide eyed expression as he basks in the sparkling clean floor, counters, and trash bins. The fallen ceiling tiles _and_ the water stained one near Luke’s desk have been replaced with whiter, newer tiles. Every trash bin is empty except for their liners. The caution tape from around the break room is gone so Magnus heads there next, taking in the black microwave to replace the broken old white one. The soot marks are gone from the wall, foam stains are no longer on the floor, and even the glass in the window has been replaced with a crack free one. Magnus isn’t sure how they managed to change the window overnight but he’s not going to question, not right now.

Right now he’s simply going to breathe in that lemony fresh chemical scent and the feeling that his precinct is finally in order again. It’s wild how big of a difference a clean space makes for him.

Isabelle walks into the bullpen just minutes after Magnus, her face just as eager at the clean surroundings as she heads to her desk. “Oh wow I can finally breathe without feeling like I need a face mask to filter out the gross stuff.”

“Damn Captain, the full cleaning treatment. What did you do or say to move us higher up the list?” Maia remarks, dumping her motorcycle helmet and backpack next to her desk.

That question makes Magnus pause, genuinely unsure of how anything he said yesterday could have influenced this massive change today. Especially when he left, he felt like his visit had knocked them down a couple of places on the list, not up.

“Whatever it is, sir, I hope it keeps us up. I never thought the smell of cleaning products would make me so happy,” Luke says as he puts his bag down next to his desk.

“Damn it, does this mean I don’t get to bake any more muffins? I have some new recipes I wanted to test on them,” Jace mutters as he heads to the break room with his french press that he had relocated to his desk after the microwave incident.

“I don’t think the muffins hurt our case.” Magnus watches Jace’s face visibly perk up as he walks by Magnus into the breakroom. “Maybe we can even make meeting muffins a monthly occurrence.”

Just as Magnus is uttering those words, Clary and Simon enter the bullpen, only a minute late. Simon picks up on what Magnus is saying immediately though, beginning to chant, “Monthly Muffin Meetings! Monthly Muffin Meetings! Monthly Muffin Meetings!”

The whole team joins in effortlessly, Magnus rolls his eyes fondly at the squad. “Jace, give me an estimate for how much the muffins cost you to make and I’ll work with Clary to make sure there is room in our budget to make our monthly muffin meetings a reality.”

The bullpen erupts into enthusiastic exclamations of joy. Simon cheers, “Nine-nine!”

“Nine-nine!” The squad answers back.

The high spirits over a freshly cleaned precinct and monthly baked goods are infectious, making Magnus smile as he mutters under his breath in agreement, “Nine-nine.”

Magnus knows that Simon and Maia don’t _need_ their captain to tag along on their latest call but the last case Magnus helped out on has already wrapped up so he’s itching for something new to solve besides the latest bureaucratic paperwork puzzle. Plus, he’s hoping he can drop a hint about the new memo in front of Isabelle and she’ll eagerly take it off of his hands. Being a captain isn’t solely about paperwork and navigating the latest restrictions from people higher up with cushy jobs that barely remember what it requires or is like to actually be out in the field. It’s also about utilizing resources well which Magnus is _great_ at.

Magnus doesn’t care if this breaking and entering case even ends up being a dead end, he’s grateful for the opportunity to get out of his office for the first time all week. Though, the luxury, recently renovated and gentried apartment complex in Williamsburg looks pretty promising.

The moment Simon, Maia, and Magnus enter the shiny lobby, badges on display, a shorter Mr. Rogers look alike rushes towards them. Before they are within hearing distance, Simon turns his head to the side towards Magnus and Maia, whispering to them, “Bet you their name is Mr. First Name like a true cliche.”

Simon turns around just as the person in question addresses them. “Thank you so much for getting here so quickly detectives.”

“It’s our civil duty. I’m Captain Bane of the nine-nine and these are Detectives Lewis and Roberts,” Magnus greets, gesturing with a hand between Maia and Simon. He asks, curious as to whether or not Simon is right, “And you are?”

“Mr. James, I’m the resident landlord and manager of this apartment complex.”

Maia snorts but attempts to cover it up with a cough. The grin on Simon’s face at his hypothesis being accurate radiates pure joy. Mr. James draws his eyebrows in confusion at their reactions.

Magnus draws their attention back to him, barely keeping his own amusement hidden. “What exactly happened Mr. James?”

“Well about three hours ago three tall burly men in those space movie masks stormed right in here-”

“Which space movie?” Simon interrupts as he and Maia jot down notes.

Mr. James gestures with raised shoulders, “You know, _the_ space movie.”

“There’s actually multiple,” Simon responds. Magnus looks over, raising an eyebrow at the question. “Did the masks have pointed ears or were they furry?”

“Is this really necessary Lewis?” Magnus asks, surprised when Maia and Simon both answer at the same time, “Yes.”

“Answer the question.” Maia repeats, “Were the ears pointed or was the mask furry like a brown, shaggy dog or white and futuristic?”

“Uhhh…” Mr. James stutters for a moment as they think on it, “One of them was definitely dog like, one was silver and spacey and the other was white and spacey.”

Simon and Maia look at each other. “Star Wars.”

Simon looks forward again, “Continue.”

“So as I was saying, they wore Space Wars masks-”

“Star Wars,” Simon interjects quickly. Magnus clears his throat pointedly. “Sorry, minor. Right. Continue.”

“Yeah…” The person eyes Simon warily as if waiting for him to interrupt again. “They went into the apartment of one of my tenants and trashed his place before taking off again.”

“And did they take anything?” Maia prompts.

Mr. James shrugs again. “I don’t know, Sebastian refuses to talk about it. He says nothing happened but I saw them! I saw the three men in… masks with my own two eyes and it’s been decades since I last did psychedelics!!”

“Good to know,” Simon mutters as he finishes up his notes.

“Is Sebastian here now? Can we talk to him?” Maia asks as she closes her notebook, putting it into her back pocket.

“Absolutely, right this way.” Mr. James leads them up the stairs to the second floor, knocking on the door of apartment 2A.

The door opens slightly, revealing the head of someone Simon’s height with short blond hair and pinkish beige skin. One of their eyes is bruised, their lip is split, and they have a long cut along their cheek. Their wounds are actively bleeding, proving that they were made relatively recently. Their whole stance tenses with wide eyes and crossed arms as they take in Magnus, Maia and Simon outside their door. Their voice is pitched low and annoyed as they address Mr. James, “You called the cops? I told you I’m fine.”

Mr. James shakes his head, clearing dismissing that answer and Magnus can understand why. It is clear that they have been in a fight fairly recently and if that occured on the landlord’s property, it’s concerning and bad for business. Mr. James introduces them, “Captain Bane, this is Sebastian Verlac, he’s lived in this apartment building for three years and never caused me an ounce of trouble, not even a late payment or noise complaint. I simply don’t understand why someone would break into his apartment and rough him up.”

Sebastian’s eyes dart from Mr. James to Magnus then Maia, eyeing the badge that hangs on her neck. “I’m. Fine.”

“Clearly you are not,” Mr. James retorts, stubbornness set in every wrinkle on his face. “Just let the detectives look over your apartment and file a report if anything was stolen. For your apartment claim, I have to state that they came by if you want to continue living here.”

Sebastian mulls it over for a second, chewing on his bottom lip. He sounds annoyed and resigned, “Fine. Come in, but nothing happened.”

Magnus’s eyes remain ahead but he can see Simon and Maia exchange a confused glance at Sebastian’s shifty behavior over it all and their presence. Sometimes cops and detectives make people nervous, especially minorities or people with illegal ties, both for good cause.

He opens the door the rest of the way to grant them entry, crossing his arms tightly around himself again. Before even fully entering the apartment, it is obvious that something went down. There is a broken chair, overturned table, seat cushions missing from the couch, and stuff all over the floor like drawers were cleaned out from somewhere. The apartment looks like a wild frat party (without red solo cups) was held the night before or it was thoroughly ransacked.

Magnus works hard to keep his expression as neutral as possible. Out of the corner of his eye, Simon and Maia exchange another glance but with a more wide eyed expression because clearly _something_ happened. The deeper they walk into the apartment, the messier the place is with shards of glass and overturned furniture, making it more obvious that a fight broke out instead of a party that got out of hand. All the broken pieces contrast with the elegant, luxury apartment with its tall ceilings, sleek furniture, and pastel walls. The sort of place that is more likely to have high tea with caviar than a rowdy college kid gathering.

Maia whistles quietly as she takes in the fancy detailed moulding and stainless steel modern appliances in the kitchen. “I clearly need to do whatever this guy does so I can afford a place like this.”

“Whatever it is, I think I could pay off all my loans and debt,” Simon adds, taking notes about the overall destruction of the place.

Magnus notes that it looks like the fight started in the living room after entering the apartment then continued to the kitchen, where there is the most damage. The front door frame, locks, and chain are all in tact which means whomever came in with the Star Wars masks were clearly people that Sebastian knew and willingly let in. It’s suspicious and odd, making Magnus feel as though he is missing a piece to solve the overall puzzle.

Sebastian’s voice calls to them from the front door where he hasn’t left, though Mr. James has, probably to return to the lobby of his apartment complex, “Alright, you’re done. You’ve seen the place and now you can leave.”

“Actually, we have a couple of questions,” Simon retorts as they all head back towards Sebastian, who just rolls his eyes before an angry guard comes up.

“What?” His voice is terse, like he doesn’t have the time nor the patience.

“Did they take anything from the break in? Were they after anything specific?” Maia asks just as bluntly, like the questions are obvious ones.

“No. I told you nothing happened - no break in occurred.”

Magnus pulls his eyebrows down, truly perplexed by these poor excuses. “Well what happened to your apartment then?”

“A party that got a little out of hand.”

“And the bruises and cuts on your face?” Magnus counters.

“I fell. I’m clumsy.”

“Well that’s a classic domestic violence cover up lie,” Simon mutters.

“I said I’m fine. Nothing happened. I’m not pressing charges nor filing a police report because _nothing_. _Happened._ ” The last part Sebastian says through gritted teeth, clearly conveying a lack of cooperation or desire for anything to be addressed.

Magnus is not entirely sure of the whole situation but he can tell when his help is not wanted nor needed. He has a feeling Sebastian is trying to protect himself somehow and knows much more about the situation than they do. Magnus nods his head. “Okay. Well thank you and have a good day. Try to be less… rowdy and clumsy in the future.”

Sebastian nods his head back, his posture relaxing a bit. Simon grabs Magnus’s arm as he walks by. “Sir, are we seriously going to just accept his flimsy lies? Clearly something else happened here.”

Magnus shrugs. “He claims nothing happened and isn’t filing a police report - there is nothing more we can do without his cooperation.”

Maia nods her head in agreement as she heads out of the apartment. Simon lingers for a moment. “Hey, I’m not sure what exactly happened or what sort of thing you’re mixed up in but here is my business card in case you change your mind and want to press charges or file a claim.”

Sebastian unwraps his right arm from around his torso, taking the business card in hand. Simon tilts his head slightly, narrowing his eyes on Sebastian’s outstretched hand as he reads the business card over. Simon glances over quickly to Magnus, before looking pointedly back to the stop of Sebastian’s hand, between his thumb and pointer finger, where a small black tattoo is. It looks almost like a pictograph or hieroglyph… But it’s too small and Magnus is too far away to really make out what it is or why Simon is so interested in it.

Sebastian looks back up, making full eye contact as he rips the business card into pieces that add to the litter on his floor. Simon breathes in quickly, clearly hurt by the action. Sebastian’s expression is blank and his voice borderline mocking, “Sorry for making you come all the way here when you’re not needed.”

“It’s our job as detectives,” Simon says with firm passion. He adds quietly under his breath in a dejected tone, “It’s just more exciting when there is a crime for us to solve.”

Sebastian looks slightly perplexed but nonplussed at the vaguely cryptic response. “Okay then. Bye.”

Magnus looks to Sebastian, nodding goodbye on the way out of the apartment, “Sebastian.”

Sebastian doesn’t reply as he shuts the door loudly after them. Simon turns to Maia, “That was like super weird right?”

Maia shrugs. “Kinda I guess. Maybe he’s just real private like those of us that don’t disclose our address or amount of credit card debt at every opportunity.”

“Sounds fake,” Simon says, watching with narrowed eyes as Maia walks down the hall for the entrance again. As Magnus passes Simon, he falls into step. “Come on Captain Bane, you have to agree that whole thing was a little suspicious, I mean right?”

“Even if I did, there is nothing we can do without his consent Detective Lewis,” Magnus replies evenly.

“His hand tattoo is familiar too. I swear I’ve seen it before - I bet you that’s the missing clue to all of this,” Simon mutters while they trudge down the stairs to the first floor.

Mr. James comes over the moment they are in the entryway of the apartment with a hopeful face. Before he can even open his mouth, Magnus raises his hand, palm flat, and says, “Sebastian is not pressing charges nor filing a report but Detective Lewis left his card in case Sebastian changes his mind going forward. It’s the best we can do at this time.”

Mr. James deflates, nodding his head in understanding. “Poor boy - those war stars people probably scared him bad.”

Magnus is surprised that Simon doesn’t even pipe up to correct Mr. James, instead Simon’s brows are furrowed, deep in thought as he tries to rethink each aspect of the case today. Magnus has a sinking feeling that it’s a puzzle Simon won’t just forget about any time soon either.

“NO! NO! NO! PRINCE DON’T DO THIS TO ME NOW! DON’T BETRAY ME LIKE THIS - I NEED THESE COPIES! I NEED YOU!” Isabelle’s aggravated yelling from the copier room can be heard all the way down the hall to the bullpen and Magnus’s office. He looks up from the report he is in the middle of reviewing, looking out into the bullpen at the wide eyed, amused expressions of his detectives at Isabelle’s outburst.

They all know that Isabelle is currently trying to yell and barter with their printer, fondly called Prince by the whole squad, deftly named by Luke (‘because he _prints..._ Get it? Prints? Prince!’). The nicknames for both appliances and people alike are rather catchy and accurate; Magnus finds himself using them without a second thought. They all also know that their beloved Prince has been performing less than stellarly lately with excess ink appearing on copies and paper jams occuring at an alarming rate. They’ve already had the printer technicians visit twice in the past two months and they both said that the printer was on its last legs.

The printer’s career at the department probably rivals Magnus’s for length so it being towards the end of its career makes sense in a way. But Isabelle _loves_ Prince, relies on him for pretty much every aspect of her organizational process. Sometimes Magnus finds Isabelle making copies for Simon’s cases just to make copies. She says the sound and smell of toner sometimes help her when she’s stuck on a case. Prince helps keep her sane and productive. Magnus gets it in a way.

The squad never really planned for what would happen if Isabelle was the one to be there when Prince finally said goodbye. It looks like they’re finding out now.

When no one from the bullpen makes a move from their desk, Magnus realizes it’s up to him to handle the situation as the person in charge. He sighs, rubbing his temple on both sides to prepare himself for whatever may lie ahead in the copier room.

The sight that greets Magnus when he pushes the door open is much less sad than he expected. He lets out a sigh of relief, unsure if he could handle tears right now. Instead, Isabelle sits on the floor, hand gently stroking the blown up Prince symbol print out that covers the printer’s Konica logo. The touch screen printing pad is totally black except for one line of white light through the middle. Not a good sign at all since the on button is flashing green on the side of the printer.

She whispers to Prince, “I’m sorry I removed _Kiss_ from my workout playlist last month.”

“I’m sorry Isabelle, looks like he’s truly gone.”

Isabelle spooks slightly at the sound of Magnus’s voice. She quickly gathers herself up from the floor, wiping off any dust or hole punches that gathered to her black dress pants once she stands. She looks back to the machine with a small smile. “He lived a good life and now his time is up - just like the legend.”

“I’ll see if we can squeeze in a new copier in our budget for this quarter. If not, I’ll apply for emergency funds for next quarter but we might not get another copier for two to three months,” Magnus offers as some sort of condolence.

“That’s fine - I can use the other precincts’ copiers if I really need to.”

There is still a sad tilt to her voice so Magnus valiantly searches his brain for something to say to cheer her up, “We can even name our next copier ‘Prince 2.0’.”

Isabelle quickly turns her head back towards him, her eyebrows narrowed in judgement. “There will only ever be one Prince.”

“True,” Magnus agrees easily. “But you can still be in charge of naming our next copier.”

“Really?! Even though the rest of the squad thinks my nicknames suck because they are too nerdy and obscure?” Isabelle looks genuinely thrilled to be offered such a high honor of naming an inanimate piece of technology.

Which is why even though Magnus knows the squad will groan when they hear, he stands firm in his decision. “Absolutely. You have my word.”

“Yes!” Isabelle does one of her personal, trademark fist pumps and alternating hip and shoulder wiggle. It’s goofy and awkward but somehow fits her and her personality perfectly. It’s extra funny because Magnus has seen her actually dance at Hunter’s Moon to whatever music is playing over the jukebox and she’s really, really _good_. But the moment there is no music, her dance moves are a whole lot quirkier.

After her mini celebratory dance, it’s like she remembers that she is in front of Magnus, someone that she is always trying to impress so he’ll be her mentor, something she’s been dropping nonstop hints about since he started. She straightens her posture and drops her hands to her sides but the shadow of a smile remains. “Thanks Captain Bane.”

~~~

Sadly, the nine-nine’s budget this quarter had absolutely no room to spend hundreds of dollars on a new copier to replace Prince but before the week is out, Isabelle miraculously finds an obscure government grant that awards money to cover supplies that are mandatory to the success of the department. It is a slight stretch but best case, they win the grant and the worst case is that they don’t. Magnus even dons the honor of completing the grant proposal and deciding which new printer to purchase to Isabelle. The task is one that only Isabelle would get a gleeful joy over, further cementing her claim over the new piece of technology.

The issue is that the printer arrived two days ago without a single instructions booklet, causing an _increase_ in headaches and frustration in the office, instead of decreasing them. No one in the nine-nine can figure out how to change the touchpad language from Korean to English, nevermind how to actually print things. The device is simple enough to use when copying but there is a portion on every sheet that is never printed on and a black ink line, neither of which they can identify the source of. Even Google has proved to be unhelpful in this quest.

It’s a good thing the copier sales people are coming by next week because until then, the copier is one big, shiny paperweight.

On Wednesday night, Magnus only means to stop by the office to pick up his bag, having left it in his office instead of lugging it around the city as he went on a mediocre first date. Quiet cursing draws his attention and curious about who is still at the office at nearly 9pm, he follows the sound to the copier room. Peering in through the windows, he sees no one but the light is on so against all better horror movie judgment, Magnus pushes the door open.

He’s surprised to find someone laying down on their back on the floor. His eyes follow shiny black shoes to long legs in black dress pants to a crisp tucked in white button up that disappears under a pulled out piece of the copier. From where Magnus stands he can’t see their face but he can see rolled up sleeves that expose strong forearms that flex as long fingers, covered in ink, tinker with different gears and pieces of the printer. Magnus wasn’t expecting the service people for at least another week and definitely wasn’t prepared for the sight of such an attractive one either. He’s pretty sure he’s seen office themed porn that starts like this.

From under the copier the voice mutters a harsh, “Fuck.”

“Can I help you with something?” Magnus asks, letting his presence be known as well as his curiosity.

His voice startles the service worker, causing them to bump their head on the pulled out piece of the printer in their haste to sit up. Magnus fails to hold in a chuckle at their expense. His laughter dies suddenly once he realizes that the person in front of him is _not_ a copier service worker but rather Deputy Commissioner Alec Lightwood, whose hair is disheveled with a bright face that is sprinkled with ink blots like black freckles. There is even ink on his white button up shirt. He somehow manages to look even cuter than usual.

Magnus’s eyes go wide in shock at the discovery. “What are you doing here Deputy Commissioner?”

“We’re both off the clock, please call me Alec,” Alec responds, ignoring the question.

“Fine. What the hell are you doing here Alexander?” Magnus reiterates, pushing all formalities aside but still being contrary by calling Alec by his full first name.

Alec gestures to the brand new copier behind him. “Trying to get your new copier to work properly.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow at the obvious answer. “Yes, I can see that but why? This is definitely outside the responsibilities of your job description.”

“Yeah but IT said fixing the copier isn’t in the realm of _their_ job description and the copier people won’t be here for at least a week.” Alec shrugs. “So I thought I should at least try to check it out.”

It’s a better answer but still doesn’t answer the root cause for Alec to be here, it seems an like much too absurd of a task for the _Deputy Commissioner_ to lend a hand to. Magnus can’t help but ask again, “Why?”

“Since I’m kind of part of the reason you guys got the copier, I feel a responsibility towards making it at least _work_ like it should.” Alec looks to his hands, smudging some of the wet ink deeper into his palm with his thumb. “I wanted to make your life a little bit _easier_ not harder. I see all the good you’re doing in this precinct and for other departments, so I wanted to help you keep working your magic.” He glances back up from his unsuccessful attempts to wipe the ink off his hands, a cheeky grin on his face. “Plus, Isabelle has already been kicked out of two other precincts for over using their copiers.”

Magnus has no idea to absorb the honesty in Alec’s words, it’s really sweet that the Deputy Commissioner, someone Magnus views as his enemy, recognizes his hard work and is trying to look out for him. He has an idea that Isabelle and Jace probably play an important role in that too which is why the last comment makes Magnus laugh.

“Alright.” Magnus puts down his bag, unbuttoning his navy police uniform jacket and loosening his maroon necktie. “Let’s try to figure this out.”

Now it’s Alec’s turn to be confused. “What?”

Magnus starts unbuttoning his white button up from his neck down, refusing to get any ink on his brand new shirt. The uniform for captains and higher ups may be bland but it is still a look that Magnus pulls off well so he buys nice, _expensive_ pieces for the look. “Move over, I’m sure they say two heads are better than one for a good reason.”

Once he has the shirt unbuttoned enough, he pulls it up and over his head so he is just in his white tank top. He folds it quickly, putting it down on his bag and hopefully out of the range of the printer’s inking range. There is another bang from next to the copier. Magnus looks up in concern as Alec rubs the back of his head, clearly hitting his head again as he complied with Magnus’s order.

He squints for a moment at Alec, wondering if his clumsiness might actually cause more damage than progress on the copier. Since it’s still in tact and functioning from whatever Alec did previously, Magnus figures there is a slim chance either of them will break it further. And if they do, it’s still within 30 days of purchasing it.

Magnus sits down on the floor next to Alec, looking at the piece of the printer that is pulled out. “So what were you trying to do here?”

“Uhhh…” Alec fills the space as he thinks. “I was… I was trying to find where the jam is on the printer head that is causing the machine not to print properly.”

“Reasonable. And you think it’s in this portion here?”

“I have no clue… that piece just opened the easiest so I started there,” Alec admits with an indifferent shrug.

Magnus hums as he looks at the machine in front of him, genuinely having no clue where to even start searching for the issue. He opens the door next to the open piece and pulls out another larger tray that looks like it has a roller that feeds paper. Seems like an logical place to start.

Magnus lays on his back on the floor to look up at the copier’s extended tray. He’s trying to figure out the flow of paper, the quiet moment stretching between him and Alec until suddenly it’s broken.

“So… you like to work out?” Alec asks nonchalantly.

Magnus tilts his head to the right to get a good look at Alec for a moment, who is looking at Magnus’s arms with something akin to envy. He shakes his head as he refocuses on the task at hand. “Yes, it’s implied in my job description.”

“Most captains don’t fit that requirement though,” Alec retorts, stating the obvious about how the physical aspect of the job is often overlooked or does not apply to all the captains in the precincts. Many of whom Magnus is positive can’t walk a fifteen minute mile never mind run it, the previous captain of the nine-nine included, preferring the safety and lack of physical activity from behind their desk.

“I don’t have that _privilege_ ,” Magnus says, emphasizing the clear privilege all those captains have over him: white, straightness. “Looks like you do too.”

It’s a dumb comment for their slightly awkward conversation that Magnus regrets almost the moment those words leave his mouth. He really didn’t mean to let it be known that he noticed the muscles in Alec’s forearms. Magnus is well aware that down this road leads some dangerous territory. Luckily, something catches his eye that gives him a chance to change the conversation before Alec tries to respond. “Hey I think I see a loose piece of plastic in this belt, can you lift the drum carefully and I’ll try to get it out?”

Alec stands up to lean over the tray, pulling up the rubber belt of the drum to give more space for Magnus to reach his fingers in to try to grab the plastic something that is free floating. It takes a couple of tries before he is actually able to get ahold of the black piece with ragged edges. It’s covered in ink, efficiently coating Magnus’s fingers the moment he touches it. He rolls out from under the tray, holding up the piece in triumph to Alec. “Looks like we found the cause!”

Alec smiles back as he takes the piece, turning it over in his hands. “Wonder how it got there... We should test the copier to be sure.”

“Absolutely,” Magnus agrees as he takes a Firefighters equipment magazine from the table next to the reams of paper. He puts it face down on the glass and clicks start. The machine whirls to life and sounds promising for a moment or two until a loud crunch happens and the green on button starts flashing red with the touch screen.

Magnus and Alec exchange a look, fearful that they somehow made the machine worse instead of better. Alec reaches forward, pulling out a tray that makes the noise of crunching and ripping paper in resistance to his movements. “Well at least we know this is where the jam is…”

They both chuckle at the attempt at a silver lining. Alec starts picking out the ripped pieces of paper from the tray, the ink still wet and getting all over his hands. Magnus grabs the recycling bin to bring it closer so he can help Alec with the mess.

It takes them nearly an hour to finally get to the reason why the paper keeps jamming in that part of the run but it’s a fun hour which surprises Magnus. Alec has a dry, quick humor that matches Magnus’s well so their banter is smart and fast, playing off one another and making the time pass quickly. They even talk about Jace and Isabelle, Alec pulling forth some embarrassing memories from their childhood and how their parents reacted when all three of them decided to go for the police academy instead of law school to become a judge like their mom.

Alec’s entire demeanor changes when he talks about his siblings, his voice and expression become fond and soft. It’s obvious just how much he cares about and supports them. It’s really endearing, making Magnus’s heart melt away some of his frigidness towards his clearly one sided enemy.

Once they figure out the jamming issue, the printer is finally able to successfully make legible, full copies. Even though they both have ink covered hands and still can’t print from a computer, they can make copies and that is one huge win for them at this point.

“Well half of our printer problems are fixed now. Thanks for this,” Magnus says with a smile, feeling genuinely grateful for the past hour or so with Alec and his helping hand.

“Good thing a professional is coming next week for the other half. Also, I’m positive if you hadn’t stopped in I would have made the problems worse instead of better...” Alec grins. “Guess you were right: two heads are better than one.”

Magnus laughs, “Well next time you’re in Brooklyn, let me know so I can get you lunch to thank you for helping, both fixing the copier and making sure we got one.”

“Finally gonna take me up on that lunch offer?” Alec’s smile is teasing, almost coy with an eyebrow raised. It’s an annoyingly good look on him.

“No,” Magnus says blandly, watching with triumph as Alec’s smile falters for a second. Magnus smiles cheekily. “I’m treating _you_ to a thank you lunch - completely different.”

“You’re totally right - they’re completely different.”

They hold their serious faces for a full minute before cracking in late night, borderline delusional laughter. Once the fit of laughter passes, Magnus wipes a stray tear from his eye. Alec pauses, wide, happy smile on his face as he looks at Magnus, leaning in. For a split second he thinks Alec is about to kiss Magnus but then Alec’s hand comes up, rubbing gently at the skin next to Magnus’s eye. “You got some…”

Magnus holds his breath for the ten seconds it takes Alec to try to wipe away the ink, not exactly positive as to why. The moment feels too intimate, a big warning sign that Magnus should already be asleep in his bed which was the reason he didn’t go home with his date tonight.

Alec chuckles and from this close, Magnus can almost make out all the different colors in his beautiful hazel eyes. Alec pulls away. “Sorry, I think I made it worse.”

“I guess it’s only fitting since you have ink all over your face too.”

Alec looks surprised. “Wait, really? And you’re only telling me now? Can’t wait to try to scrub all of this off tonight.”

“Yeah I wish us both luck on that front,” Magnus says. Alec picks up his jacket and bag from next to Magnus’s on the floor.

“Well I’ll be seeing you soon for that lunch.” He winks playfully which is cheesy but also endearing in a strange, strange way.

“I’ll see you Deputy Commissioner Lightwood,” Magnus says in a formal voice that is borderline teasing.

Alec’s expression morphs into one of clear offence. “I thought we were past this. You wound me.”

Magnus rolls his eyes. “Good night Alexander.”

A grin breaks out across Alec’s lips, clearly pleased that his dramatics worked. “Night Magnus.”

As Alec leaves, Magnus realizes that maybe he doesn’t hate Alec nearly as much as when the night first started.

That night attempting to fix Dolly (Isabelle’s final decision, named after the first successfully cloned sheep, though the rest of the squad refers to her as Dolly Printon behind Isabelle’s back, keeping in the theme of musicians) completely changes the dynamic between Magnus and Alec. Their thank you lunch was such a success, both lamenting about the upper, upper management roadblocks, that they unofficially start having a bi-weekly standing date to grab lunch together to just _talk_ about work or the news or television or whatever. It’s just lunch but it’s nice and easy, and as long as Magnus doesn’t examine the _why_ behind his excitement when their lunch dates draw near, he’s totally fine.

As Magnus learns more about Alec, the more foolish Mangus feels for ever having considered this man to be his enemy. Sure Alec got the Deputy Commissioner position over Magnus, but it wasn’t really something Alec had control over. And yeah, he’s a straight white man but it’s clear that he’s a _good_ man that cares deeply about doing what he feels is right as well as for his family. He’s also hard working, funny, and being really cute doesn’t hurt either… Shit.

Magnus had been on such a roll of avoiding crushes on straight men until now. Fuck.

Luke and Magnus have only just started discussing their cases closed numbers this past month as well as improvements the team has been making, but Simon has passed by the glass office door at least three times now. Clearly something is up or on his mind, Magnus muses to himself, enjoying watching the impatience oozing from Simon. Whatever it is, it is obviously not critical or extremely important, not even _Simon-level_ important like the time the Oscar Meyer weiner cart was parked on their street, otherwise Simon would have burst into Magnus’s office, mid meeting or not. It’s kind of fun to watch Simon pace.

Once Luke and Magnus’s meeting is over, Luke isn’t even fully out of the office before Simon all but barrels in, pushing a confused and affronted Luke the rest of the way out to close the door. Magnus makes eye contact with Luke outside of the door and both of them shrug at each other in a way that conveys ‘Oh Simon’. Magnus directs his attention to Simon with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to spit out whatever is eating at him.

“I finally found out why that tattoo is familiar, sir,” Simon says in one breath.

Magnus knows that Simon is so worked up that he forgets Magnus doesn’t have the same amount of context. “What?”

Simon looks back at Magnus with confusion before it clicks for him. “The hand tattoo.” Magnus’s expression remains neutral, needing more details. “The hand tattoo on the guy from the breaking and entering call last week?”

“Oh yes.” Magnus nods his head in understanding, fully up to speed now.

“I thought it could be from something I saw when I was digitizing old case files about a year ago so I went back to that task, working on a new stack as well as skimming the ones I did previously.”

“Wait,” Magnus can’t help but interrupt, a mixture of pride and surprise in his voice as he remarks, “You willingly and unpromptedly did _additional_ paperwork and reporting?”

Simon breaks eye contact, cheeks heating red as he mumbles, “The mindlessness helps me focus... and sometimes I learn new things.”

Magnus hums his approval at being right. “Does Isabelle know that you’re reducing her work load?”

“No!” Simon whips his head back to Magnus. “And she will never know.” Simon lowers his eyebrows in what is surely meant to be an intimidating manner but gives him more of a childish pout. He shakes his head back and forth. “This is besides the point. The tattoo is of a rune that means ‘Angel’, the defining gang tattoo of members of the Clave gang. Wait, are they a gang or a mafia? What makes a group of criminals a gang verse a mafia?” Simon asks out loud, pausing a moment to think about it.

In unison, Magnus and Simon nod to themselves as they answer, “Racism.”

“Anyway, I did some additional digging on the Clave gang and found that pretty much every case we have that involves them from the past five years has been unresolved with mishandled evidence, missing witnesses, or just dead ends. I know you’re familiar with the Clave from your own work on the Circle Mob case.”

“Luke is too… He was undercover for a bit with the Clave before the extreme radicals split to form the Circle Mob and he had to be pulled out of concern for his well being and that of his family.” Simon nods his head in understanding. “It was Luke’s undercover intel that helped me with my case that dismantled the Circle Mob, that and over racist targeting left a clearer trail.”

“Well I think the Sebastian Verlac that we met is actually Jonathan Christopher, known as JC, a high up supplier and dealer for the drug trafficking business of the Clave. All of our drug cases from the past six years mention a JC, but over the past three years his name has tripled in frequency. But he’s kinda a ghost, there is no tie to him anywhere. No public records, no known addresses or aliases, no credit cards or family. Nothing is linked to his name, not even his full name of JC Morgenstern. It’s like he was never born.”

“I know that last name,” Magnus mutters. “Valentine Morgenstern was the leader of the Circle mob and when we killed him the mob disbanded. It was rumored that he had a son but we never saw or could find out more beyond the rumors. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s his kid - continuing the legacy.”

“I think Sebastian is his alias and could be our link to getting closer to the Clave. We could finally find out why the Clave has managed to thrive and escape the authorities for decades. Maybe one day this case will even help dismantle them and help bring justice to all of their unanswered and cold case files.”

Magnus stops, thinking over this with steepled fingers. This could lead to something… something massive. “Okay. I think you bring up good points. We should tail Sebastian over the next day or two to see if he does anything suspicious to solidify your theory, then we can approach him about the breaking and entering and mention that we know why he doesn’t want the police involved.”

Simon does a little fist pump in excitement which seems overly enthusiastic for what they are about to embark on. Magnus’s voice is serious as he adds, “This could be big Detective Lewis, we need to be serious and extremely careful. We need to keep the squad safe in case it unravels the way your hunch suggests, so let’s keep this between us and as secretive as possible - the less people involved for now, the better.”

“Absolutely.” Simon sombers, nodding his head up and down vigorously. He breaks out into an eager grin, “Time for us to… go to church.”

“Good. I’ll even let you choose our undercover squad car from the yard for the mission while I finish up some things,” Magnus remarks, turning his attention back to his computer screen, feeling the mix of apprehension and excitement that always preludes any case that is still in the midst of being solved.

Simon opens the office door, already out in the bullpen when he calls back over his shoulder, “Sounds good, Dad.”

Magnus freezes, turning slowly to look at Simon who seems to have also just realized what he said, frozen in place with wide eyes and pink cheeks. “Do you see me as a father figure Detective Lewis?”

The snickering of the entire squad that heard the slip up jars Simon back to life. He sputters, “What? No! Absolutely not. I clearly see you as a… as a bother figure cause you’re always bothering me… God.”

“Hey! You don’t talk to your father like that,” Luke adds in a stern voice.

Simon’s eyes go even wider, looking between Luke and Magnus before mumbling with an exaggerated eye roll, “Sorry Dads.”

“It’s alright,” Magnus says evenly. “Come get me when you’ve chosen, I should be done with my paperwork by then so we can head out…” The corner of Magnus’s mouth ticks up in a teasing smile, “son.”

~~~

Tailing Sebastian for two days ends up being pretty useless, the only things Magnus discovers are that Simon can fit an absurd amount of cheetos in his mouth at one time as well as sing really well. It doesn’t seem like Sebastian has a real job either, during the day he sleeps in, goes out to eat, shops and returns to his apartment. He’s sort of a boring person to tail if Magnus is being honest. On the last justifiable day of following Sebastian, they finally get some sort of evidence that he could be linked to the Clave: three people enter Sebastian’s apartment that have the same tattoo as him on their right hand. When they exit about an hour later, one of them is now wearing a plain backpack.

When Sebastian leaves his apartment for a late lunch at a diner down the street, they decide to make contact. Magnus and Simon sit at a booth on the other side of a half wall to Sebastian, close enough to talk but not actually sitting with him. He doesn’t even look up from his menu as he asks, “What do you guys want?”

From behind his menu, Simon responds, “We know that whatever was stolen from you was either drugs or illegal firearms which is why you didn’t want to involve the police.”

Magnus watches as Sebastian grips his mug a little tighter, a silent confirmation.

“We just want to know who stole from you and why,” Simon continues, attempting the easier route first.

“I’m not telling you anything. You have no proof and therefore no jurisdiction.” Sebastian’s voice is cutting. “Where I’m from, the way I was brought up is that there is truth in the expression: snitches get stitches.”

“We know where you’re from, who you work for, and who you _really_ are.”

“Oh yeah? So what do you want from me? You can’t take me in. You have nothing on me.” Sebastian sounds smug, aware of his clean record and that nothing actually ties back to him.

“Yeah but with you as a key witness, we could take down the people you work for and the people that came for you.”

Justice and doing the _right thing_ is definitely a far stretch that makes Sebastian shake his head in disbelief. “Dude, I’m just trying to make good money to pay for mountains of medical bills, not change the world.”

Magnus shakes his head side to side, “The healthcare insurance industry in this country truly is an expensive disaster.”

“Don’t I know it,” Sebastian scoffs. “I’m not going to, and I can’t, help you - just leave me alone before you make some bad enemies.”

It’s probably one of the least aggressive threats Magnus has ever received, which is saying something coming from a career industry that is rampant with toxic masculinity, subtle racism, and homophobia, but it makes a shiver run down Magnus’s spine just the same. He can only imagine the sort of people the Clave have working for them these days.

“Well after seeing your black eye and trashed apartment, it doesn’t look like they’re necessarily your friends either. If you ever change your mind, here’s my number,” Simon says as he passes a napkin over the half wall with his number written on it in pen.

Magnus adds, “I can’t promise that we’d change the whole world with your help, but maybe Brooklyn.”

A server approaches Magnus and Simon’s table at that moment to take their order. Simon slams down his menu on the table, “Sorry, can’t eat here. There’s nothing kosher. We gotta go.”

The server is clearly flustered, nodding their head in understanding as they gather the menus from Simon and Magnus. On the way to the front door to leave, Magnus watches Sebastian fold the napkin before putting it in his pocket. Magnus takes it as as good of a sign as they are going to get.

  


It’s a rare spring like weather day so Magnus is forcing Alec to take advantage of it with him by eating lunch outside for a change. Magnus takes a deep breathe in, enjoying the fresh air that promises they are nearly out of the dreaded cold grasp of winter. Okay so Magnus may sound a little bit dramatic right now but the long, cold, and draining atmosphere of New York winters has that effect on him. The sun seems to be doing Alec some good too, an easy smile on his lips and pink in his cheeks as he bemoans the request that came across his desk today.

“One of the other Brooklyn precincts, I’m not naming which, put in a genuine request for a yogurt fridge. Apparently, it’s the preferred breakfast of the whole squad and their current fridge isn’t equipped to handle the precise temperature and humidity conditions to keep their homemade yogurt stable.” Alec snorts to himself as he takes a sweet potato fry from their shared side. “I couldn’t even make this shit up if I tried.”

“Hipsters,” Magnus says simply as if it explains everything and Alec chuckles again to himself at the reality.

“I know I complain a lot about all the paperwork that comes with this job but it’s cause I just miss solving _actual_ cases, actively helping the community.” Alec goes quiet for a moment and Magnus waits, knowing Alec is just mid thought and not quite finished. “But I know I’m doing good too in this position. Just a different good.”

Magnus nods slowly, Alec’s eyes are focused on the fries as if they hold all the answers to his questions if he can just look hard enough for them. Magnus reaches across the table, gently touching Alec’s forearm to bring him back, trying not to enjoy the casual touch between them that’s become so normal in the past couple of weeks. He looks up, his bright hazel eyes making eye contact with Magnus.

“You are doing good,” Magnus reassures, pleased when the corner of Alec’s lips twitch up slightly. “I mean who else is qualified enough to be the Deputy Commissioner and reject precincts requests for yogurt fridges, knowing well that they could just use a wine fridge that costs a third of the price.”

Magnus’s joke breaks the intense moment between them as Alec leans forward, laughing with his whole chest as Magnus’s joke. He can’t help but grin at himself for the response that he pulled from Alec.

“It really is a glorified wine fridge. Wow.” Alec sobers, eyes still playful as he remains leaning over the table. “Let me live vicariously through you Magnus, tell me about one of your recent cases.”

“Well… I can’t share too much but… I’m working with Simon on this case that I think is going to unravel to become something really big.” Magnus speaks slowly, pretending to look disinterested as he stirs the straw of his drink around. “Though, whatever you did to screw over your ex is not helping our case count. The Vulture keeps swooping in and stealing cases from the department, but especially Jace and Isabelle. I’m worried she’s going to take Simon and I’s case.”

“She? Wait, what are you talking about?” Alec asks, face pulled down in confusion.

“Your ex - the Vulture.” Magnus says, gesturing with his hand like Alec should just know which of his exes the nine-nine’s internal nickname is for. “The whole squad calls her the Vulture… what is her name… L… Lydia… oh Lydia Branwell from Special Crimes Division!” Magnus accidentally exclaims, proud of himself for remembering her name at all. It’s been so long since he said her actual name instead of the Vulture.

Alec throws his head back against the back of the chair as he groans.

Magnus laughs at the response. “Do you remember her now?”

Alec lifts his head back up to look at Magnus. “She’s not my ex. She’s just mad because she thought we were dating for a couple of months while we were at the academy together whereas I just thought we were friends. She may be holding a grudge because she didn’t like it when I finally set her… straight.”

Alec laughs to himself whereas Magnus is terribly confused. That seems like a major difference for two adults to be having: dating vs friends. “How did that even happen?”

“Well I’m gay so I knew we weren’t dating,” Alec responds matter of factly. “But according to her, I’m not flamboyant enough to be gay. She didn’t like when I called her homophobic for that remark either.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense,” Magnus says, trying to sound calm and casual and not act like his whole world view is tilting because Alec is gay. _Alec is gay_. Whew, that is a weight off of Magnus’s chest about his whole growing crush on a straight white boy thing. His six plus year streak of not crushing on a straight man is back in tack. And Magnus does not want to examine the relief any deeper than the superficial aspect, doesn’t want to start thinking something ludicrous like he might actually have a chance with Alec now. Nope. Magnus isn’t going to go there right now. Though, the whole enemies to friends to lovers is an underutilized trope his brains whispers like the true traitor it is.

Suddenly, Magnus’s phone starts ringing on the table. He glances at it, reading Sergeant Garroway across the screen. “Bye.”

“What? Okay?” Alec looks slightly hurt at the sudden and swift change by Magnus.

It makes Magnus feel guilty about suddenly bailing on Alec after he revealed his sexuality when it’s actually not correlated in the slightest, just poor timing. Magnus has a feeling the call is important. Luke only calls during meal times when he has an emergency. “I’m bi myself - like bisexual but I also have to take this call so bye! Sorry for leaving so suddenly, I have a feeling this call is about my big case.”

The confusion on Alec’s face blooms into a small smile at Magnus’s explanation. “I know. Thanks for having lunch and talking with me. I’ll see you soon Magnus and be careful, especially if the case winds up as big as you think it will.”

Magnus smirks. “I always am careful, Alexander.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes this is part one of a two part fic!!! I am seriously laughing @ myself for thinking I could write this malec portion in 10k when I've written 20k but probably have another 10k to go... Currently, I'm in the midst of moving cities/states BUT I hope to have the second part finished and posted by May so stay tuned!!
> 
> What did you think about part 1?? Do you think the brookyln 99 humor came through? Did any part make you laugh? I'd love to hear!!!
> 
> Thank you for read and supporting this DREAM collab! Links to the graphics and posts on tumblr can be seen [here](http://meliorn.tumblr.com/post/172002897814/sh-big-bang-2018-shadowhunters-99-and-the)!


	2. The Daring Rescue of Patti LaSuperiorCafe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus thought his life was starting to make sense again but with mobs, moles, miserable exes and now missing key evidence, he could laugh cry at just how wrong he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow!!!!!! it has been many many many months since I said I'd have this posted and many more since I first posted it!!! I just want to thank all of you that have waited patiently for an update and for sticking with me through this ride!! as you can see, this will now be three chapters instead of just two AND I have already started chapter 3!!!  
> this fic NEVER would have been worked on again if I didn't have some amazing friends in this fandom encouraging me and listening to me cry and inspiring me to keep going!!! like i love writing and yet it is always one of my first hobbies to let fall to the wayside so thank you to my friends for everything.
> 
> but potentially the biggest of thank you should go to my loves and buddies and friends claire and alice!!!!! without them, this fic would be riddled with errors and graphicless. Thank you [claire](http://sunshinehobies.tumblr.com/) for sharing your gift of language and [alice](http://meliorn.tumblr.com/) your gift of art, i am most appreciative!!!
> 
> with all my thanks in order, now I have warnings to bestow: mentions of abusive relationships, gun violence/use, minor character death, and just brooklyn nine-nine canon typical violence.
> 
> i dont know FULLY how detectiving works nor hospitals so just like, dont take my word as the holy gospel...  
> this next chapter is very plot heavy and i hope you enjoy and can't wait to hear what you think!!!  
> (if you wanna live tweet it or live post on tumblr, I'll be checking the #shadowhunters99 and #sh99 tags!!!)

   
   
   
 

_[(© to the amazing and talented alice)](http://meliorn.tumblr.com/post/181353530569/shadowhunters-99-chapter-2-the-daring) _

The call from Luke was an important one about a dangerous perp but not related to Simon and Magnus’s case. Luke is currently debriefing Magnus about the diamond thief and suspected murderer who is currently on the loose that Maia, Jace, and him are following up on. And Magnus is trying to pay attention, really and truly, but his mind keeps circling back to all the times he’s called Alec straight in front of the squad, in front of Luke, in front of Alec’s _siblings_. And none of them ever said anything - never corrected him, just let him look like a fool for over a year.

The _disrespect_.

“Sorry Sergeant Garroway, I’m really distracted right now. I just had.... an _enlightening_ conversation with Alec that I can’t stop repeating in my head,” Magnus interrupts suddenly when he realized that he’s missed the details for their mission that night.

“Hmmmm, about what? If you don’t mind my asking.” Luke’s face looks carefully neutral but there is a small uptick in his lips like he may know where this is going.

“About sexuality... and I realized that I was wrong.”

Luke raises a judgemental eyebrow now, amusement evident in the quirk of his lips. “Wrong about him being a straight white man?”

“Yes. Wait, you knew he was gay and you let me erase his sexuality for the past year while I continuously called him straight?!” Magnus feels mortified.

“It’s not my job to out people,” Luke points out. “And I tried to tell you, when I said ‘are you sure about that?’ after you called him straight but you just laughed in my face.”

“Because I clearly thought he was undeniably straight with all the snide comments the Vulture makes about him, their failed, though apparently nonexistent, relationship to his siblings. I assumed he was a terrible-at-relationships straight man,” Magnus attempts to justify his rationale behind it.

Luke’s face becomes borderline annoyed with disbelief at Magnus’s weak justification. “The man checked out your ass not even five minutes into his first visit to the nine-nine after you became captain. Also Izzy and Jace make jokes about it all the time.”

Suddenly a vivid memory comes to Magnus of laying on the floor under one of Dolly Printon’s trays in his white tank top with Alec as they attempt to fix the jam. In an over exaggeratedly slowed down manner that deepens voices, Alec’s words replay as all the evidence is revealed to Magnus and his brain starts connecting the dots, ‘ _So...… you... like... to... work... out?’_ Wow. A clear sign right there and then that Alec is a useless gay.

Well, at least Magnus is maintaining his disaster bi stereotype.

Luke’s comment registers now after the slow mo memory stops playing, making Magnus smile a little, dampening his embarrassment over the whole situation and the existence of his crush. “It is a nice ass.”

“It is, sir,” Luke agrees.

“Sorry, I needed to solve that mystery and now I can focus. Rebrief me please, starting from the beginning,” Magnus instructs causing Luke to let out a faux big sigh before launching into the case details and mission plan to catch the perp again but this time with Magnus’s full attention.

 

Maia is one of Magnus’s favorite people to do details and stakeouts with because neither of them ever feel pressure to fill the long hours with small talk or conversation. They enjoy each other’s company and the quiet. It’s why Magnus easily agreed when Sarge asked for someone to be back up with Maia for the diamond thief case so Jace and Luke can make a deal to lure them out of hiding.

Maia and Magnus have been sitting in relative silence on their stakeout but Magnus knows something is eating her up on the inside, something she’s dying to let out. She’s sitting perfectly still and upright but the unusual twichiness of her fingers gives her away, constantly drumming on her steering wheel or knee. It’s a first for them and Magnus has no clue how to respond, how to show his support, so he stays quiet, hoping that Maia will share whatever is on her mind when she is ready.

After two hours, Maia finally breaks her silence with caffeine and sugar in her blood from a much needed Dunkin Donuts run to revive them.

“Do you feel… different than everyone else in the precinct?”

Magnus looks to Maia, unsurprised to find her gazing straight ahead with teeth slightly clenched like this vague question already feels too personal. He tries to ease some of her tension, “Generally, from being a double minority or specifically as an out and proud queer person of color?”

Maia nods her head slowly, making her tight curls jostle with the movement. “Generally.”

Magnus nods his head side to side, “Sometimes. Squads have also always treated me differently but I can never really tell if it’s because I’m Asian American or cause I’m bi.”

Magnus’s honesty hangs in the air between them. It might not be clear cut or straightforward but it is the truth.

“Even though I’m a detective, cops have always targeted me as a black woman but especially lately with the raised tensions between cops and the black community.” Maia pauses as she gathers her thoughts. “I’ve always felt respected and a part of the squad - I’m afraid of that changing.”

Magnus nods his head, understanding on some level what Maia is getting at even though he doesn’t _fully_ get it and never will. “Well we’re lucky that most of the nine-nine are also minorities so I think the likelihood of them treating you differently is minimal but if they ever start to, I want you to know that you can come talk to me or Sarge about it and we’ll handle it. As I rose through the ranks, I never had a commanding officer blatantly support me so it is very important to me that you know that I _do_ support you, all aspects of all your identities, and will not tolerate any prejudice in my precinct, not now, not ever.”

Maia glances over quickly to Magnus, her eyes look watery like his words really mean something to her. He can’t even imagine how he would have reacted if any of his superiors had openly expressed support for him. He offers a smile in response, trying to convey that he means it. Maia looks forward again. “I don’t have any family, haven’t spoken to them for years, so I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this stuff. Thank you.”

Maia’s always been extremely quiet about her personal life and Magnus has never pried, respecting her privacy and desire to be a little bit of a mystery at all times. He absorbs this first glimpse at Maia’s background. “That’s not really true, is it?”

Maia looks to him again, eyebrows pulled forward in confusion.

“You have the nine-nine, we’re kinda like a big, loud family,” Magnus explains with a small smile, trying to lift Maia’s spirits. “Probably a tad bit more annoying and diverse than most…”

Maia snorts out a laugh as she looks forward again, the ghost of a smile on her lips as she mutters, “Yeah, you’re right. The nine-nine is kinda a family.”

Luke has barely finished recounting the details of the diamond hand off from last Friday night when Simon bursts into the office, not even bothering to knock. He looks winded, leaning over onto his knees as he pants out, “Sorry Sarge, but I need to talk to the Captain right now... about Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Christ is the nickname that Simon came up with for Sebastian based on the initials of his real name, that way no one in the squad knows who or what they are talking about as they try to unravel bits and pieces of the case. It’s kind of stupid but also kind of genius, especially when they talk about drug dealer Jesus Christ in public settings for the looks alone that strangers give them.

Luke raises a perplexed eyebrow, “You’re Jewish, Simon.”

“Gotta cover all my bases. Don’t worry, I also pray to Aphrodite like she’s my mother. Really don’t wanna end up there,” Simon says as he points to the floor.

“Excuse us for a moment please, Sergeant. I’m sure it’s crucial or else Detective Lewis wouldn’t just barge in here. I’ll ring you when we’re done.” Magnus is curious about what new, important development prompted Simon to run here to the office.

Luke squints his eyes between the two of them, clearly suspicious, before heading out of the office and closing the door behind him.

Simon collapses in the seat just vacated in front of Magnus’s desk, muttering to himself. “I always forget how much warmth Sarge’s butt gives off. It’s like a heated seat over here.”

Magnus shakes his head, unphased. “Focus please, what do you have to say about… Jesus Christ?”

At the reminder and use of the nickname, Simon’s eyes light up. “I just talked to Sebastian and he said he’d help us…” Magnus waits Simon out, knowing that there has to be a catch somewhere, somehow. There is no way that Sebastian is doing this out of the goodness of his heart. In one quick breath Simon adds, “as long as we put both him and someone he loves into witness protection.”

Magnus narrows his eyes at Simon, still feeling like there is something that he is keeping a secret. Simon tenses his shoulders, looking away at the critical gaze. Magnus soldiers on, “Okay… so witness protection for him and his lover...”

Simon makes a quiet, high pitched whine at Magnus’s words, still refusing to make eye contact. It doesn’t sound promising and Magnus immediately knows that whomever this person that Sebastian loves is, Magnus is not going to happy about it. Instead of skirting around it, Magnus decides to be blunt, “Who is it?”

The high pitched whine is dragged out for even longer until Simon loses his breathe. Immediately he relaxes his shoulders, but it’s a facade because he still refuses to make eye contact. “Well, funny story Captain Bane… turns out that the leader of the Circle Mob isn’t actually dead but rather has been in a coma for the past seven years.”

Magnus’s eyes go wide and he doesn’t bother keeping the anger hidden from his shocked outburst. “WHAT?! YOU PROMISED THAT WE WOULD PUT VALENTINE MORGENSTERN INTO WITNESS PROTECTION? THE DANGEROUS LEADER OF A WHITE SUPREMACIST GANG THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD?”

Simon cringes, clearly aware of how bad it sounds. “Well he’s not really alive either? He’s been in a coma for years. He’s the reason why Sebastian has such expensive medical bills.”

Magnus plops back into his seat, his mind running a mile a minute at how the man he supposedly helped bring down was actually not killed, but rather has remained alive and under the radar this whole time. The only answer that Magnus can think of is there must be a mole in the department, the agency, that covered up that major detail. And if that is correct, then suddenly this case just became so much more dangerous.

At this point, Magnus and Simon aren’t even on an _official_ case, just dozens and dozens of cold cases filled with the whispers of names and undeniable connections but still no justice. If there is an internal mole then that definitely explains why the Clave has avoided capture for _decades_.

“Simon, we can’t do that. We… we don’t really even have a case.” Magnus’s mind is still reeling, trying to come up with something, anything, to keep Simon and the squad safe. It sounds weak even to his own ears.

“Sir, the Clave knows we talked to him and are coming after his dad.” Magnus mulls over this new information for a bit, still not feeling like Valentine is really worth the potential danger. “Which is a direct obstruction of the law and isn’t it our job as detectives solve or prevent that from happening?”

Magnus’s eyes skirt over to Simon who is looking at him defiantly now, expression serious and voice passionate as he echoes the same words that Magnus shared his first day at the nine-nine.

Simon continues his point, “Sebastian is high up in the Clave hierarchy and could be a major player in understanding how they’ve managed to survive for so long, then no one would ever be able to deny you a leadership in the bureau again, especially not for the Deputy Commissioner position.”

Simon has great points, it _is_ their jobs as detectives and if it pans out well, having it on his case resume wouldn’t look too bad either when applying to other higher up positions. Magnus smiles slightly, feeling reminded of the rush he felt when the pieces first started coming together to dismantle the Circle Mob. “Looks like it’s time for us to go pay a visit to God.”

“Good one Captain.” Simon’s eyes widen with glee at Magnus taking Simon’s goofy names or identities to the next level.

“Thanks, I’ve been thinking about it and waiting to use it ever since you came up with the code name.”

~~~

“Okay so the plan is we go in, say his son paid for fancier services than this hospital has so he’s being moved with a police escort. Then roll him out to the van we have waiting in the loading dock and we’re home safe,” Simon repeats for probably the fourth time on the trip over. It’s fairly simple and Magnus isn’t positive it is going to work but it sounds plausible enough.

“Are you sure we are on the right floor?” Magnus asks as they exit the elevator onto the floor that Simon selected. “This looks like some sort of holistic medicine place…”

“Holy whats it?” Simon stutters. “You know I was kidding when I said we should go to church… I’m Jewish, we go to temple.”

“Holistic - like acupuncture, Tibetan medicine, herbal remedies - pretty much all non Western medical practices,” Magnus explains, looking around at the incense and variety of different plants that decorate the welcoming table section. “That’s chamomile and mint.”

“Oh… are you a medicine man?” Simon’s voice is teasing as he glances from his phone to the room plaques on the wall.

Magnus huffs out a laugh, looking at Simon with a little bit of surprise. “Maybe in an alternate universe where I live near the woods with my adopted Argentinian son but those are some common plants that you should be able to identify. Seriously, are you sure this is right?”

Simon shrugs off the judgement, “Well this is the floor and hospital that Sebastian sent me so yes, this is the right place.”

“Oh right, because drug dealers never lie,” Magnus mutters under his breath, following close behind Simon as they turn down a small hallway with more doors.

Simon turns to glare at Magnus quickly. “We’re doing him a massive favor by saving his father and his life, why would he lie?”

Magnus shrugs. “Fear makes people do stupid things.”

Simon narrows his eyes for a moment before pushing open the door in front of him, clearly arriving at the right door. Inside an older woman with wrinkled light copper skin walks around the hospital bed where a naked, snoring older man rests on their stomach. The woman places steaming stones on an exposed dark tawny back as they hum under their breath. They turn a harsh look towards where Magnus and Simon stare from the doorway. With an accent that swallows the ‘th’ in words, they warn, “Don’t ruin ‘e energy!”

“Right the energy, sorry ma’am. Ummm…. Continue,” Magnus says as he pulls Simon away to close the door fully. Magnus raises an eyebrow in judgement at Simon who looks from his phone to the plaque next to door.

“Oops. This is 310 not 318,” Simon admits sheepishly. Magnus rolls his eyes as Simon leads them to the correct door just a couple down. He pushes open the door with a little less confidence now, peering in slowly to make sure there are no naked bodies or medicine mid practice before fully entering the space. “Damn it.”

Magnus glances in the open door to see no hospital bed at all but the machines are still on and beeping as if someone unplugged everything and just ran with the hospital bed.

They are too late.

“God, no.”

“More like no God,” Simon mutters sadly to himself.

~~~

Even after talking to the few staff they could find on that floor, no one saw anyone carting a coma patient out of the wing and since there is no real case this pertains to, Magnus can’t even make the hospital share their security footage of the floor. As Magnus drives them back to the precinct’s car lock up to return to police van they checked out for the occasion, Simon’s phone starts ringing.

Simon grimaces as he glances at the caller id, _Our Lord and Savior_ , flashing across the screen. He quickly unlocks the phone before pressing speaker so Magnus can hear as well. “Oh hey there buddy, pal, Sebastian! I was just thinking of you!”

“THINKING ABOUT HOW YOU SCREWED ME OVER CAUSE YOU WERE TOO SLOW TO GET MY DAD FROM THE HOSPITAL AND NOW THE CLAVE HAS HIM?” Sebastian’s voice comes through the tiny speaker, crackling from his angry tone.

“We left the precinct the moment you called me - we went as fast as we could. The Clave was just faster,” Simon explains, keeping his voice calm. It was true. Simon had already had a on on cue claim to swap their patrol car for a van and then off they went to the hospital.

“Of course the Clave was faster once they knew where to go - you told them where to go! There was no trace between me and my father for them to follow until today. I’ve never even visited him in the hospital before! You tipped them off.” Sebastian’s words remain biting, clearly still furious about this letdown.

“What? No! Why would we do that? We want to _help_ you so we can get closer to the Clave.”

Sebastian lets out an aggravated sigh on the other line like it’s obvious and Simon is just being dense for fun.

It hits Magnus and Simon at the same time, they exchange a quick glance before Magnus refocuses on the road.

“There’s a mole!”

“Obviously there are moles in your department, maybe even higher up - why do you think the Clave is so successful at staying out of jail? The Silent Brothers have ears everywhere so the Clave does too. But I didn’t expect you to be blabbing to everyone about this. My father’s life was in jeopardy and now, mine is. Our deal is off. I’m going off the grid.”

“Wait Sebastian!” Magnus cuts in quickly. Those two elusive words grab his full attention immediately. This is the closest not just him but the _whole_ bureau has ever come to finding out information about the gang even _higher_ up than the Clave: the Silent Brothers.

Magnus isn’t even sure that Simon _believes_ in the whispers of the Silent Brothers. They are one of the most prominent and phantom supposed mobs in the whole _country_ based in New York City. He absolutely can not just let the opportunity slip by and out of his hands. “Let us help you disappear, it’ll be easier with our support. In exchange for information on names and routine of the Clave’s operation and details of the Silent Brothers workings, you will be given a home, a name, a background, and a job far, far away from here.”

“You clearly have a death wish,” Sebastian huffs. Then a heavy pause falls between them on the phone and Magnus would have thought Sebastian had already hung up if slight staticy breathing couldn’t be heard in the quiet car. Perhaps not having his father to hold him back and keep him rooted in this area could be something that finally frees Sebastian. Perhaps he’s just a kid that grew up in that business, was groomed for it, and never had a chance to really escape it. Maybe he’s been looking for a way out from the moment he was forced in. It gives Magnus an idea, he adds, “A whole new identity completely detached from both Sebastian and Jonathan, you could reinvent yourself from scratch and finally leave the mob life and world of drugs for good. You could start again with a whole new life.”

The silence on the other line continues and Magnus tries not to let hope bloom in his chest. A harsh swear breaks the quiet.

“Fuck... Fuck. Fuck. Fine. I have to finish up some things tonight but I’ll be by first thing tomorrow morning to start this whole process.” Sebastian sounds exhausted on the other end of the line, like perhaps he really is ready to be done with the stress of this life. “I’m hoping you keep your end of the promise this time - my life depends on it.”

“Absolutely - we promise,” Simon says with a relieved smile, visibly pleased, as is Magnus at the turn around in their case.

“I’ll see you at the precinct at 7 am,” Sebastian says with finality as he ends the call.

“7 am? What! The sun is barely awake at that time, how am I expected to be?!” Simon whines to the ended call.

Magnus grins, letting the rush of unraveling a complicated web of a case come over him as he shrugs in response to Simon’s complaints, eyes glued on the road. “Because justice never sleeps.”

Simon sucks in a sharp breath of surprise. “You’re right. Justice never sleeps and neither shall I.”

“What? No.” Magnus looks over at Simon, concerned that his tone and expression is one of seriousness and not teasing. “You should try to get at least 8 hours of rest before our big day tomorrow. There is a lot to be done and sleep is important for optimal brain functioning.”

“8 hours? Really? That seems high…” Simon retorts.

Not for the first time, Magnus wonders how Simon has managed to stay alive and functioning for so long. Magnus side eyes Simon, unsure if he is kidding or serious anymore. “We’ll talk about your sleep schedule later, first we have to get some cases in line the moment we get back to the precinct in order for tomorrow to go as smoothly as possible. We still have to keep this as quiet as possible, especially if the Silent Brothers will potentially be involved. Only use paper casefiles for now and try to minimize any ties as you take them out while we build the case to minimize interference from whomever the mole is. I’ll start setting up the witness protection profile for Sebastian. I have some higher up contacts that I trust to feed this through as discreetly as possible when he gets in.”

“Good thing discreet is my middle name.” Magnus ignores it, figuring it’s just Simon just being himself. He worries though and quickly clarifies, “I mean not _really_ , it’s actually Uri, in case you were wondering.”

Magnus doesn’t even glance over this time as he remarks blankly, fighting back a small smile, “I wasn’t wondering.”

Simon sinks back into his seat, eyes ahead too. “I can’t believe Sebastian mentioned the Silent Brothers. I’ve never heard a perp actually say that name before. I always thought they were an old cop made-up nightmare, like the boogeyman.”

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

“I can’t wait! If any of the rumors are true, they are the _real deal_.”

Magnus rolls his eyes at Simon’s almost glee at potentially interacting with one of the most dangerous gangs in the United States. Magnus just hopes that Simon doesn’t end up regretting those words.

When Magnus walks into the precinct at 5:50am the next morning, he is pleased to see that Simon is already there too, pouring himself a freshly brewed cup of coffee from the french press. Though it looks like he may have slept at the precinct that night for there is a pillow and blanket behind him on the disgusting, well-worn couch in the breakroom. Magnus is going to choose to ignore that idea for now at this point.

“Good morning, Detective Lewis,” Magnus greets as he enters the breakroom to see if there is any coffee left to top off the cup he brewed before leaving his apartment that morning.

“Good morning, Captain Bane! How’d you sleep? Are you nervous at all? I mean this case is big, like big big, and could define our whole future, career-wise _and_ life-wise. I mean how are we going to keep it under wraps? Maia was with us when we answered that breaking and entering call. There is no way she won’t recognize Sebastian the moment she starts her day. Are we going to tell her that he’s here for a completely different, unrelated reason?” Simon speaks quickly like maybe these thoughts have been keeping him up all night and he’s running purely on caffeine alone.

Magnus nods his head to show that he is listening as he pours what little coffee's left into his thermos. Magnus’s non response doesn’t deter Simon either, he continues his slightly nervous, mostly caffeinated spiel. “Oh you like french press coffee too? Jace was totally right that you have to let it sit with the pump pressed all the way for it to taste the best. He didn’t like when I called him at 5 am to ask why he liked drinking dirty water but he is used to my random phone calls for information so he eventually explained the secrets of the french press to me and I realized I’ve never actually seen him use it before which is kinda crazy when you think about the fact that I’ve worked with him for the past three years…”

Simon finally seems to lose a bit of steam, his voice trailing off as Magnus takes a sip of coffee with a single eyebrow raised. “I may have drank the first full pot of the french press even though I didn’t make it right, so this is already my second pot of the day.”

Magnus nods his head up and down, everything slotting into place in his mind. Simon is right, this is a pretty massive case so the nerves are reasonable if not expected to be present. To be honest, even Magnus himself is on edge because he is well aware that if this goes poorly then they could lose their careers and maybe even have to enter witness protection themselves. He can’t show it of course, needs to be calm and collected for Simon and their team in order for this to work out. God, Magnus just wants this to work out.

“There is a lot riding on Sebastian to create this whole case which is why we need to be careful and make sure everything is correct before we bring it forward. Honestly, if we are able to simply identify and remove the Clave’s internal mole then I will consider this case a massive success.”

Simon nods in agreement because they both know that having a mole in the ranks, especially a mole for the Clave or worse yet the Silent Brothers, is extremely dangerous for not just their operations but their lives as well.

“Okay, so first we hide away Sebastian, then snuff out the internal mole, and then we finally take down the Clave or better yet, the Silent Brothers, only one of the longest running and most elusive mob leaders in thirty years. Cool cool cool cool. No biggie.”

Magnus feels a little of that frantic edge in Simon’s voice. Magnus lets out a deep breath, trying to take some of that unease with it. He echoes, “No biggie indeed.”

They still have at least an hour before Sebastian is supposed to meet them and another hour before the rest of the squad is slated to get in for their usual Wednesday shift, so Magnus and Simon just start… working.

If Magnus wasn’t so preoccupied with thoughts of a mole, he may have shed a tear when Simon honest to god sat down at his computer, opened Isabelle’s newest case file template and pulled one of his many manilla folders to be filed into his lap. No, Magnus definitely would have shed a tear. Maybe being over caffeinated and stressed was the correct combination for Simon to be the most productive.

It’s 7:15 am when Magnus braves leaving his office after pouring over every single one of his handwritten notes about this case, trying to find the loose end that gave them away to a mole. There is no sign of Sebastian in the precinct and Magnus is beginning to feel slightly uneasy, like maybe they’re being stood up and their one lead is leaving them to dry.

Magnus looks over the bullpen for Simon, who is no longer at his desk but his pile of cases which needed filing is now nonexistent. Magnus can only imagine how jittery Simon is right now, completely on edge as he waits for Sebastian to come in, especially after finishing the majority of his desk work.

Magnus finds Simon in the breakroom, wiping down the counters with Lysol disinfectant wipes. The whole breakroom looks much, much cleaner than it did an hour and a half ago when Magnus first entered. All the dishes in the sink are cleaned and drying in the rack as they should be. All coffee pots, both french press and non, are freshly cleaned and practically shining.

Magnus hovers in the doorway, not wanting to say anything in case it startles Simon out of his haze and he stops his very excellent cleaning job. The sound of the gate to the bullpen unlocking echoes in the quiet space, Simon snaps his head up and makes eye contact with Magnus. They both hastily rush out of the breakroom to the bullpen to investigate.

Magnus cools his disappointment whereas Simon does the complete opposite when they see who awaits them.

“Isabelleee!?!” Simon sounds both horrified and wounded, making her name sound like a painful groan out of his mouth.

Isabelle freezes from just inside the gate, looking somehow caught doing something wrong before she remembers where she is. She relaxes her body but tilts her head to the side, eyebrows pinched down in offense or perhaps confusion. She looks at the disinfectant wipe hanging limply in Simon’s hand before up at his face, “Why are you here early?”

“Well… Why are _you_ here early? Explain yourself missy!” Simon sputters for only a moment before going for petulant.

“I’m always here this early…” Isabelle glances at Magnus for reassurance of sorts, he nods in agreement.

Simon’s head swivels between the two of them with wide eyes, “Wait, you _voluntarily_ come this early to the office?!”

Magnus rolls his eyes, he can tell the caffeine’s effectiveness is starting to fade from Simon’s bloodstream because the answer to that question should be a given.

“Why are you holding a wet wipe?”

“First of all, it’s a disinfectant wipe, not a wet wipe, y’know for disinfecting purposes. Second, apparently I’m a stress cleaner. Who knew!” Simon crosses the bullpen again for the breakroom with those words as if they answer all of their questions. Perhaps in a way they do. Well perhaps if he means that he _only_ cleans when stressed it does, for it certainly explains the disastrous state of his desk that is rumored to be a mirror image of his apartment as well.

Magnus waves his morning greeting to Isabelle before retreating to his office to get ready for the day, for Sebastian or no Sebastian, the nine-nine must go on.

~~~

Just past 8 am, a commotion in the bullpen rouses Magnus from his desk. Adrenaline pulses through his veins at the idea that Sebastian has finally arrived but when Magnus looks out from his door, he simply sees Jace protectively cradling a wicker basket covered by a red napkin as Maia and Clary circle him.

Magnus is sure that today isn’t facilities bribery muffin day… well, _pretty_ sure.

Jace looks up at Magnus with pure relief, “Hey Captain! I made muffins for the squad to celebrate Simon learning how to use my beloved Patti LaSuperiorCafe today.”

At the mention of Magnus, Clary and Maia back away slightly from Jace but not before both of them take a fake lunge forward at Jace, making him flinch. Maia snickers at his expense.

“Where is Simon?” Jace looks around, squinting at Simon’s unusually tidy desk. “I know he’s been here since at least 5 am.”

“He just crashed on the couch in the breakroom about 10 minutes ago,” Luke answers as he leaves the breakroom, holding a homemade mug that says “world’s best dad” that Clary made for him after he cried, loudly, in the office when Jace and Simon accidentally broke the ancient, well loved one Clary gave Luke when she was five.

“Simon drank his first attempt at the french press and then most of the second one,” Magnus explains to Jace whose eyebrows remained pinched close.

This answer soothes Jace for he relaxes immediately. “Yeah he’s going to need that nap.”

“I hate when he does this,” Clary huffs out an annoyed sigh, sounding well accustomed to Simon’s caffeine habits.

With Jace semi distracted, she reaches out to lift up one corner of the napkin but he quickly swats her hand away. Clary fake growls her disapproval.

“No! No one gets muffins until Simon wakes up - they’re for him!”

Clary rolls her eyes as she walks away, muttering under her breath, “Protective.”

~~~

It may only be 10:10 am but Magnus has given up all hope of Sebastian showing up at the precinct. Magnus knew it was too naive to trust Sebastian, the _son_ of Valentine, to be true to his word and help them dismantle even just the Clave gang. He feels frustrated that they were both so close and yet not nearly close enough to do anything of value.

Magnus goes to the breakroom to fill up his coffee thermos again, not surprised to see Luke still there at the table, eating yogurt and reviewing case files. He wanted to make sure Simon didn’t choke on his tongue or something in his sleep after having too much coffee.

Isabelle follows into the breakroom shortly after, waiting for Magnus to be done with the french press before putting the rest in her cup. He leaves the small coffee station table to check on Simon himself, giving space to Isabelle to flavor her coffee just the way she likes. Luke taught her about butter in coffee and she’s been experimenting ever since.

Simon’s snores on the couch putter out into a long, miserable groan as Magnus nears. Simon cracks one eye partially open, his mouth turns down in discomfort as he looks first at Luke then Magnus. His voice is hoarse, “I feel both dead and alive at the same time. How is that possible? Am I a vampire now?”

Magnus levels Simon with a serious expression. “Yes, you are. And I’m a wizard.”

Isabelle snorts, muttering mostly to herself, “Yer a wizard, Magnus!”

“Nerds,” Maia laughs from her space in the doorway where she has just joined them. “Hey Jace, Simon’s up! Can we eat the muffins now?”

“Jace made muffins?!” Simon says as he catapults himself up and off the couch. “I’m definitely alive now!”

“He made them for you,” Isabelle adds.

“Oh. Maybe I’m dead and this is heaven.”

“I’m a little concerned if the precinct is your version of heaven,” Luke remarks, cleaning up the table from his breakfast.

Simon shrugs, waiting back as everyone else files out of the breakroom at the promise of Jace’s baked goods. Magnus has a feeling Simon’s hesitancy has to do with Sebastian so he holds back too.

Once everyone has left, Simon asks, “Any word from… Jesus Christ?”

Magnus sadly shakes his head no.

“Damn. I’m worried about him. Maybe something happened? Maybe the Clave got him?”

“Or maybe he just decided to go off the grid without our help. “ Magnus counters.

“But he promised!” Simon’s voice raises in pitch slightly, truly sounding hurt by the implications.

Magnus fixes Simon with a judgemental raised eyebrow, trying to not to overflow all the frustrations from this case. “And he’s a criminal of one of the most wanted gangs in New York City. Sebastian isn’t even his _real_ name, he lies for a living Simon.”

Simon thinks on it for a moment before nodding his head, shoulders sagging in defeat. Magnus feels some tension leave him too; it’s been a long day already and this case just adds so many more layers of stress to it all.

“I’m sorry Simon. I wanted to trust him and for everything to work out too but it looks like… Jesus Christ had other plans.” Simon doesn’t even perk up at Magnus’s joking reference to the code name like usual. “We do still have a mole to smoke out.”

Simon’s eyebrows pinch together as he nods, looking determined again. “Yeah, we do.”

Magnus really should’ve known better than to let the thought of ‘today can’t get much worse’ pass through his mind for the living embodiment of ‘worse’ walks out of the elevator and straight into the nine-nine’s bullpen at 11:58 am: Camille Belcourt. Arriving all of two minutes before they all break for lunch is enough to tell of her true evilness but Magnus might also be deeply skewed by the fact that the FBI agent in question stole his heart out of his chest and ripped it up into a million pieces right in front of his face.

He attempts to plaster on the friendliest of smiles as he greets her, most likely missing by a mile. He’s never been good at saving face in front of his exes - they broke up and never talk for a reason, right? “Welcome Agent Belcourt. To what does the nine-nine owe the pleasure of your presence?”

“I’m a Special Agent in Charge these days Magnus.” Camille winks, going straight for casual in all regards. There is a mischievous spark in her eyes, one that used to excite Magnus but now makes him slightly uneasy.

“Congrats to you.” Magnus purposefully refrains from putting any intonation in his voice.

Clary comes into the bullpen from the staff breakroom, eyes glued down on the phone in her hands, she almost walks directly into Camille. Clary looks up at the obstacle in her path with a pinched, annoyed expression. “Woah, why are the Feds here?”

“What a great question Clary. Special Agent in Charge Belcourt was just about to tell us.”

Camille rolls her eyes as she sighs, like they are ruining her fun. “FBI heard that you were potentially closing in on someone high up in the Clave mafia so we’re here to share intel and pool resources. The Clave is my special area of expertise so they brought me in. The rest of my team is unpacking our van as we speak and should be bringing up our case file and latest resources.”

“What?! The Clave!” Luke’s voice sounds furious and Magnus curses Camille, which he has a feeling won’t be for the last time that hour, for sharing a secret that wasn’t hers to reveal.

“It’s a case that Simon and I have been trying to piece together ever since a breaking and entering incident but we haven’t been able to gather anything concrete enough so we didn’t involve anyone else. We know the Clave is dangerous and didn’t want to involve more people at risk of harming them without having more certainty,” Magnus explains as he looks at the varying expressions of hurt from his squad.

“You could have told me, Captain. You know my history with the Clave, my experience, and what I have lost due to the Clave. I could have helped.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before this moment - I wanted to have something more stable before asking you to risk your lives.”

“Doesn’t matter, Captain - you should have told us so we could make that choice for ourselves. You know that I would’ve done anything I could to help.”

“Yeah, I would’ve taken that risk,” Maia agrees, nodding her head in agreement with Luke.

“So would I,” Isabelle adds.

“And me.” Jace.

“Me too,” Clary chimes in. “In whatever way I can as an assistant to the captain, not in a detective or sergeant way obviously.”

Magnus nods his head, feeling on the verge of tears from such a simple moment of solidarity from his squad. “Thank you. You are right, I should have given you the choice to help at your own risk, we _are_ better together.”

Camille coughs, barely covering up a fake gagging noise she just made. “Awe you guys are a cute little squad. And it looks like your dreams are coming true since now you all will be involved in this case going forward. Welcome.”

The elevator chimes as a group of four white clones of varying heights wearing navy windbreakers, with the signature FBI logo on the back, walk out. They carry an assortment of boxes, computers, a keurig, and a rolling whiteboard. They enter the bullpen and one of the carbon copies steps forward. “Where should we set up, boss?”

Camille’s grin becomes sharp at Magnus before she raises her pointer finger to her lips in contemplation. She eyes Magnus’s office for a moment and he wants to shove her right back into the elevator from where she came, especially because he knows they _both_ know how long and hard he worked for that office.

She flickers her gaze to the breakroom. She moves her pointer finger from her lips to gesture at the breakroom. “There.”

Camille turns back to Magnus. “My team and I are going to get set up for the next forty-five minutes or so then we should debrief. Perhaps even over lunch like old times?”

“No, we’ll use the debriefing room so my entire squad can be filled in as well since they are now going to be involved and their lives will be at risk.” Magnus honestly isn’t positive what would happen if he is alone with Camille and he doesn’t really want to find out right now either.

“Fine. See you in forty five.” Camille leaves the center of the bullpen with those words, heading straight for the breakroom.

The moment Camille and her team are in their newly acclaimed office space with the door closed, the entire squad surrounds where Magnus remains in the bullpen. Collectively they glare daggers at the new threat and Magnus would laugh if he was feeling anything beyond overwhelmed at this moment.

“Captain?” Jace breaks the silence first, of course.

“Yes, Jace.”

“Permission to call her Special Agent To Avoid Now, sir.” The glee in Jace’s voice is barely contained by the mediocre robot voice and it makes the corner of Magnus’s lips turn up.

“Could be more original but still a worthy childish insult, permission granted.”

“YES.” Jace and Simon fistbump in celebration.

“What’s going between you and Satan, Cap?” Maia asks, gesturing with her chin to the area where the person in question retreated.

“Yeah, even I can sense that some bad mojo went down between you two, sir,” Isabelle adds.

“I knew them when they used to date,” Luke offers simply.

“What!” Simon, Jace, Clary, Maia, _and_ Isabelle all exclaim at the same time.

“But you’re so… you!” Isabelle gestures vaguely to encompasses Magnus’s everything. “And she’s so…”

As she flounders for a good descriptor, Clary comes to the rescue, “Evil.”

Magnus shrugs, acknowledging that they aren’t wrong. “In all honesty, I thought it was a front and I was attracted to it. I hoped that once she let me in, she’d be this really soft and kind person but that wasn’t the case. She broke up with me for being too serious, she only saw me as a fling, temporary, because anything more would hold her back in her career.”

“Oh damn. I’m so sorry, Captain,” Isabelle consoles.

“We were together for almost three years.”

“Damn! That’s heartless - even I wouldn’t lead someone on like that for three years.” Jace looks scandalized for her.

“You better not,” Isabelle mutters with anger. Not for the first time, Magnus wonders what it was like to grow up in the Lightwood residence with the vastly different personality traits of Alec, Jace and Isabelle. He imagines it’s part of what makes Maryse such a level-headed judge.

“Makes sense, gotta be heartless to rise through the ranks so quickly at the FBI,” Luke amends. “She was still a New Agent Trainee when we were already a year out of the academy.”

“Well, as you can imagine, things did not end amicably between us and now she’s here, in my precinct, making demands about a case for which I have little information to share.”

“Yup, don’t envy you there one bit, Captain,” Jace says as he pats Magnus’s back.

“But you’re not alone either, you do have us and we got your back, sir.” Luke’s voice reminding Magnus that he isn’t actually facing his ex all on his own.

“Yeah, you got the nine-nine, Cap,” Maia reassures.

“Nine-nine?” Simon whisper exclaims. They’ve all be talking in hushed tones as if their voices would somehow bring attention to them from behind a closed door but not their cluster in the middle of the bullpen.

“Nine-nine!” The entire squad, Magnus included, whisper exclaims in return, uniting them together.

The elevator doors ping again, signalling another visitor to their precinct floor. As one unit, they turn their heads sharply to glare at a potential influx of _more_ of Camille’s FBI agents.

It’s just Alec who walks out of the elevator. He pauses once he’s fully outside of the elevator doors, face pinched in confusion as he stares back at the unwanted glares of the squad. Everyone relaxes immediately when they realize it’s not actually a threat and a stream of FBI agents aren’t going to come from the elevator to completely take over the nine-nine.

“Oh. It’s just Alec.” Isabelle sounds a weird mix of disappointment and relief. Her words are the catalyst for the squad to disband from their little cluster around Magnus.

“Not exactly the sort of greeting I was expecting after I’ve been calling both you and Jace nonstop.”

Jace picks his phone up from his desk, “Seven missed calls in five minutes - really?”

“I was alternating between you and Isabelle - it could’ve been worse. You were both late to our standing weekly lunch plans and unresponsive. Your line of work isn’t necessarily pillow fluff testing safe, I’m allowed to get a little irrational from worry.”

“Sorry Alec for not warning you about lunch. Something big is happening with the precinct and the FBI just waltzed in all of thirty minutes ago so we’ve been preoccupied,” Isabelle explains from her desk, cell phone in hand.

Alec looks to Magnus now, eyebrows pulled in and lips downturned slightly. He isn’t positive how Alec makes concern look cute but it works for him. Magnus isn’t sure what to say at that expression, doesn’t know what Alec is looking for exactly as he takes Magnus in.

Magnus hasn’t seen Alec since that fateful lunch last Thursday. The one that put some things into perspective for Magnus and made him rethink some important factors. The top two thoughts on loop since _the_ incident were: heteronormativity will truly be the downfall of the world and that maybe acknowledging this blossoming something in the pit of his stomach when he makes Alec laugh is completely okay.

One of those is a run of the mill acknowledgement that Magnus knows he and the rest of society needs to work on. The other requires a lot more unravelling to fully parse out what he wants to do about that but he just hasn’t really had the time. He hasn’t been avoiding Alec so to speak, they’ve been texting here and there as usual. They made a plan to get lunch next week, sent some food pictures back and forth, things are _normal_.

But Magnus still can’t help but realize that _of course_ this is happening on a Wednesday, around lunch, when his potential-could-be crush stops by every week. Magnus just doesn’t feel nearly ready enough to tackle whatever this is that he’s feeling for Alec, on top of everything that’s happening with the nine-nine right now.

Magnus is especially unsure while the woman that destroyed his heart is just in the other room. For someone who saw their relationship as a fling, Camille did have a possessive streak that could be almost cruel. Magnus curses himself now for ever giving her so much of his affection or even time. The thing is that once some of those behaviors that Magnus knows to he _should_ avoid began appearing, he was head over heels in love with her. He could justify every controlling behavior as just the way she shows her affection, her love.

Magnus knows better now but having her here, unexpectedly in his space, after years without even a glimpse of her, makes him feel a bad sort of vulnerable. He hates that she has this sort of effect on him, especially when he knows he needs all of his mental capacity to help the nine-nine piece together whatever they can to find _something_ to use against the Silent Brothers or even just the Clave instead of dodging passive aggressive remarks from an ex or even exploring potential feelings for somebody new.

The door of the breakroom swings wildly open, banging loudly against the wall and gathering the attention of the whole nine-nine. “Mags,” Camille calls from the doorframe, “We’re going to need an ethernet cable, copies of everything you have on the cases, and k-cups for our machine.”

Magnus tries his hardest not to roll his eyes out of his head at her demands. He knows he can’t just ignore a Federal Agent either. Clary skirts around him quickly with a big, overly friendly smile. “Right this way Special Agent In Charge Belcourt. I’ll show you where our extra computer stuff is stored so in case you need a mouse, you can grab one too. As for k-cups, we don’t have any in our office but you are welcome to go down to the first floor and ask the police department for some of theirs.”

Camille looks too confused by Clary’s kindness to refuse, so instead Camille follows through the bullpen, looking every bit put out at the fact she has to do this herself. As she passes by Alec, she lets her eyes rake down his whole body. “Well hello Deputy Commissioner Lightwood, don’t you fill out your suit well.”

Alec visibly bristles like an angry cat at her gaze and words. “I wasn’t informed that a Special Agents unit was going to be working with Captain Bane’s detective unit.”

The sickening, over the top sweet expression on Camille’s face morphs into a smile with a condescending edge. “Of course not, Deputy Commissioner. This is _way_ above your level.”

“Be prepared to meet in five.” She adds before disappears with Clary down a hallway. Everyone holds their breath for a beat longer for the tension of Camille’s presence still permeates the room.

Jace’s expression looks murderous as he stares at the breakroom. “I gotta go save Patti LaSuperiorCafe from having to share a table with that lazy, resources wasting, landfill increasing monstrosity called a coffee machine.”

Jace makes a break for it, presumably to do just that, while Alec crosses the room. He reaches out, gently grasping Magnus’s forearm. “Is this about that big case you mentioned last week?”

The comforting touch feels much needed right now for Magnus knows the days, if not weeks, ahead are going to be the most grueling ones he’s faced in a while. He gives Alec a tired smile, “Unfortunately.”

Alec glances between the breakroom and the hallway that Camille just walked down. “Just… please be careful and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything from me, whether it’s resources or just someone to talk to.”

“I’m always careful,” Magnus says lightly, trying to dispel the heavy atmosphere. The concern from Alec is really sweet but not something Magnus has the capacity to properly handle right now. He truly does appreciate the reminder and the support, even if he can’t do more beyond acknowledge that right now. He puts as much sincerity at possible in his words as he responds, “Thank you, Alexander.”

~~~

The debriefing goes about as well as one can expect when local detectives and federal agents attempt to share information about an elusive, high power gang. That’s to say that not much new information was shared at all on the side of the FBI while Magnus mostly brings the remaining of his squad up to speed.

He almost wishes he had used the moment to test Simon to see if he could one day be a captain himself. Magnus imagines that Simon would’ve simply summed up their whole investigation so far as: the guy from their breaking and entering witness statement is actually Valentine’s only son and still helping move supply around for the Clave, except that the Clave was getting testy with him so the nine-nine offered protection and witness protection for him and a loved one, but now the loved one is missing and Sebastian might be as well - to be determined.

Magnus made a deliberate point to not name Sebastian’s loved one as his comatose father, who happens to be one of the former leaders of the white supremacist gang that personally wanted Luke dead. Magnus figures that is a personal topic to discuss with Luke privately and not share in such a public setting. He already looks on edge, his eyes continuously glancing to where Clary sits just outside the debriefing room, having chosen to not attend their “boring case gossip sesh”. He almost looks like he just wants to grab Clary and run or perhaps he just craves comfort from one of the few people that kept him sane during that tumultuous time in his life post undercover.

After Magnus shares everything that he has, Camille simply claps her hands together. “So you found an elusive and high up member of the Clave and you didn’t even arrest him on spot? Rather, you _lost_ him?”

Her tone is condescending and rude, making Magnus grit his teeth to hold back from saying something he could regret to an FBI agent, sorry no, an FBI Special Agent in Charge. Actually no, as Jace said: SATAN. Plus, who knows how high up her power goes and Magnus has worked too long and too hard to let his ex get under his skin in all the wicked ways she remembers how.

Simon rises to the cause, raising his hand from his seat in the front row of the debriefing room. He doesn’t wait to be called on, clearly as frustrated as Magnus at having their skills and judgement questioned but trying to remain rational and cool about it. “We couldn’t arrest him without any evidence, Special Agent in Charge Belcourt. I’m not sure if that’s in your jurisdiction but it’s not in ours. Plus, we were hoping he could be _the_ evidence against others higher up in Clave, like against the even more elusive Silent Brothers.”

Camille’s aggravation at the truth in Simon’s call out shows only in the tightened corners of her smile and slightly pinched eyes. “Well then we better pray that we find the _only_ concrete evidence against the Silent Brother that has appeared in ten years, _Detective_.”

Camille turns to her squad now, “Team, do a historical check of Sebastian. I want to know who he talked to, his habits, his hobbies, where he did his laundry, where he bought his groceries. All of it. And I want a detailed, predictable outline of where he could be at any time and day during the week in my hands by 10 am tomorrow.”

Magnus is a little shocked at how the agents file out without a comment, not even about the tight deadline of less than 24 hours to create such an intensive, data mined report. Magnus isn’t sure that even with five Isabelle Lightwoods working all at once they could pull off such a feat. But then again, it’s the Feds so they probably have many more resources and information at their disposal than the nine-nine does. Figures.

Magnus looks at his squad, eagerly watching him for some sort of direction. “Squad, let’s start pulling together all Clave related cases that mention Sebastian or JC as well as the Silent Brothers so we can start looking for clues and hopefully find some piece of overlooked evidence.”

The nine-nine nods their understanding, standing up from their respective seats and heading to their desks to start on the task. Simon and Maia stop as they walk by Magnus. Maia asks, “Captain, wouldn’t it make sense for some of us to also look at other potential places Sebastian could be? Send scouts and ask around?”

“Yeah, like places that might not be in his usual routine because things aren’t the same for him now as they were even just last week.” Simon adds.

Magnus thinks on it, they do bring up a great point. Before he can respond, Camille cuts in, “My team is already handling that if you didn’t properly hear me detectives.”

Maia opens her mouth to protest but Camille raises a single eyebrow, challenging the potential comment. Maia closes her mouth forcibly but her anger is written all over her tight expression. Camille’s expression smooths out to smugness, further fuelling Maia’s anger as she storms out with Simon close behind her.

Camille turns her smug expression to Magnus now, “Do your subordinates always talk back to you and disobey your orders, Mags? Must be hard running a team that doesn’t fully respect you.”

Magnus wants to tell Camille that she is so incredibly wrong, that he is always appreciative when his team brings their concerns and ideas to him about how to do things, that he knows he doesn’t have all the answers and wants their input too and that does _not_ mean they disrespect him. It means that he respects _them_ and they respect _and_ trust him _._

Clearly taking his silence as him conceding her point, Camille walks out of the debriefing room as well with a smug smile on her lips and a swing in her step. Magnus doesn’t want to completely go against the Feds, especially on such a big potential of a case, but he knows that Maia and Simon are right. They do have resources and general know-how on the local level that the Feds just don’t have so they should use that to advance their case.

On his way back to his office, Magnus sees Luke hugging Clary tight in the hallway that leads to the bathroom and that sight alone makes up Magnus’s mind. This case is so much more than some disagreement between local and federal law enforcement and he won’t let exes or a power complex come in between that.

Magnus diverts his path to purposefully pass by Simon’s desk even though it is a little out of the direct route. As Magnus walks by, Simon looks up with a confused expression. Once they make eye contact, all Magnus does is give a small head nod to Simon, giving him the go ahead to follow through with Maia and his idea. His wrinkled forehead smoothes out as understanding kicks in, he does sit closest to the breakroom entrance. He nods his head back signalling that he too understands his charge.

Magnus continues on to his office as Simon tries to communicate with his eyebrows to Maia across the bullpen. She’s not understanding any of it unlike Isabelle who swears she’s fluent in eyebrow. Simon finally stands up. “Maia, I need your help with Dolly Printon, my Clave files aren’t printing.”

“What?” Maia asks bluntly. “Ask Isabelle - that thing is her baby.”

He looks pained now at the fact that Maia isn’t getting it. “You were the one to fix it last, so I’m asking _you_.”

“I-” Whatever Maia was about to protest gets lost in an outraged squawk as Simon pushes her rolling chair towards the printing room. “Fine, I’m coming to help you with your stupid printer problems.”

Camille sticks her head out of the breakroom, raising an eyebrow at Magnus who stands just outside his own office. He makes a show of shrugging his shoulders before fully entering the solitude of his office. Once the door is closed behind him, Magnus lets out a long breath.

It’s definitely going to be a long couple of days, if not _weeks_. He just knows it.

It’s nearing the end of the day when Luke approaches Magnus, suggesting that they hold another debriefing session but this time about the Silent Brothers instead of the Clave. He knows that this case is important to Luke and so is sharing any information he can from his own past experience with the Circle Mob, the Clave, and the Silent Brothers. Magnus understands, thinking that their squad could use a brief history lesson on the topic beyond what the glamorous biopics depict.

The squad waits for the FBI agents to join them in the debriefing room, but only Camille comes, closing the door behind her. She pulls over a seat from an empty table to sit at the front next to Magnus. She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow, giving Luke the signal to start.

“The whispers of the Silent Brothers’ involvement in organized crime in New York City go further back than most of you in this room’s lives. I’m talking about as far back as when I was in diapers. And there is virtually little known about their real names and lives beyond their aliases. But there are plenty of rumors. The only ones that are shrouded in any sort of fact or hold any chance at legitimacy are the following.”

Luke flips the whiteboard in the briefing room, instead of displaying titles and timelines of cases about JC, it now reads three points. He points to the first one, “1. It is believed that they are a small, elite group comprised of previous mob bosses, from the Italian mafia to the Japanese and Russian and Mexican. Any big shot mob leader of the past fifty years, could be a part of the Silent Brothers.”

Simon raises his hand. “So it’s like a geriatrics social club?”

Luke shakes his head back and forth, not saying yes but not denying some of the truth it holds. “Kinda, but if all the geriatrics were trained in firearms and their entire life’s work has been in organized crime so they know the ins and outs of the system extremely well. In addition, they most likely have people in law enforcement on their side, and they still call all the shots but no longer get their hands dirty.”

Simon nods his understanding. “Good point. Horrifying.”

“Moving on to suspicion two, they play some sort of role in every single gang that exists in New York City beyond just the Clave or the Circle Mob, with influence in other major cities. We have never been sure just how involved they are or if they are just on a consultant basis, but I think it’s safe to assume the worst in this case.

And my final point is this: the Silent Brothers like to stay under the radar and _silent_. It’s how they succeed and make things happen. Anyone on their team that starts talking about them or brings cause for their alias to appear in the newspaper, for good or bad, winds up dead. Like the hitman that left the bodies in the apartment and it made the news that the Silent Brothers were starting up a timeless rivalry with a gang in New Jersey again. Cops found him dead only days later, his pockets filled with the ripped pieces of that headline.”

“Damn,” Isabelle whispers.

“They like us, the police, and the people to know they are still around not through the media or specific actions, but rather through whispers.”

“They sound like a bunch of dramatic old people,” Maia mutters, dispelling some of the tension in the room. It’s clear that she is unnerved by this information as they all are.

Camille’s hands hit the top of the table as she pushes herself up and out of her seat. “Well thank you for sharing local law enforcement intel on the Silent Brothers, Sergeant Garroway. It lines up with what the FBI has believed for decades as well. That all being said, it reasons for me to remind you all to be safe out there. We’re working with a very experienced and dangerous group, be very, very careful with the information you choose to share.”

She exits the debriefing and Magnus rises from his seat. “Yes, thank you Sarge. I know this case can’t be easy, especially when you thought you had finished your part with the Clave and Circle Mob all those years ago.”

“Not a problem at all Captain. And I knew then that it wasn’t over nor was my role in the case for they weren’t disbanded yet, just my time as undercover was.”

Luke sits in the seat just vacated by Magnus, looking out as he addresses the squad at large, “And I hate to agree with her, but she’s right. Please be safe out there and don’t do anything foolish like go investigate intel on your own.” Magnus tries to glare that point into Simon’s brain.

He looks offended. “Obviously. I actually like my life - Contrary to everyone’s belief, I don’t have a death wish.”

“Good.” Magnus nods, knowing Simon is the most likely out of all of his team to push that boundary based on past experiences.

“So from now on, until this case calms down and the Feds decide the case is cold enough to leave, no detective should be investigating or even staying alone. Sergeant Garroway and I discussed it at length. We would like to encourage those of you that live without roommates, if possible, to please bunk up with another member of the squad.”

Magnus is surprised when no one protests the request and that genuinely soothes some of his concern. He remembers the amount of law enforcement they lost during the days of trying to dismantle the Circle Mob.

Simon raises his hand again. “If you want, you can stay with Clary and I, Captain. We can clear off the couch for you.”

“Or us!!! You could stay with Jace and I, Captain! Ohhh we could discuss our favorite leadership training techniques while Jace and Alec cook for us - they’re both really good.” Isabelle eagerly chimes in.

Magnus is surprised to say that he’s touched by the offers and he’d be lying if he said that the idea of spending more time with Alec wasn’t a plus as well. “I’m actually going to stay with Sarge but thank you both for the offer.”

“Hey, I thought you’d stay with me Isabelle.” Maia looks a little annoyed.

“Oh right cause of your dog. Sorry, I’ll stay with you. Jace will still have Alec.”

“Wait, you have a dog?” Simon whips his head around to look at Maia, his expression is one of true betrayal and Magnus might laugh if he didn’t feel a twinge of it too.

“Yes and she’s a white husky and the most precious thing in this world and if anything were to happen to her, I’d probably lose my mind.”

“Her name is Nala,” Isabelle adds with a smile.

“What! Not only do you have a dog named after the dog from _Legend of Korra_ but _Isabelle_ ’s met her and not me?! Your best buddy from the academy?” Simon’s voice sounds even more hurt and Magnus isn’t positive Simon’s playing his wounded emotions up.

“Yes,” Maia answers simply like that alone answers everything.

“I can’t believe you kept a dog from us. Not. Cool,” Jace says.

“Yeah - not cool!”

“Whatever.” Maia stands up, heading for the door. “Maybe I’ll let you meet her one day. Maybe.”

“Oh I better meet her Detective Roberts! Or our friendship is _over_ ,” Simon calls after Maia, quickly following her out.

“Cool,” Maia calls back but even Magnus can hear the smile in her voice, she’s clearly just messing with Simon now. Maia’s always been very particular about who she lets in and what exactly she shares with others.

Magnus looks back at those who remain in the room. “You’re all dismissed. Get a good night’s rest and we’ll start again in the morning.”

~~~

One of the biggest reasons Magnus is glad that Luke offered a bed in his home was because Magnus knew it would be an actual _bed_ and not a couch. Luke is always mentioning how they had to have at least three bedrooms in their house in case any or all of their four children wanted to spend the night. And with all of their children living on their own now, that means at least one bedroom would be open for Magnus to commandeer.

He gets to have a lovely dinner with Luke and Maryse, excited to actually interact with Maryse for longer than thirty minutes in a place outside of a courtroom. Here, in her own home, she’s much more relaxed with her hair literally down and a smile that never leaves her face. Her and Luke look so disgustingly in love that Magnus aches with a bit of jealousy of how easily it seems to come between them. He wants that for himself.

He also learns that Maryse too has a history tied to the Circle Mob and that’s how she met Luke originally. Her husband, Robert, was often with Luke and occasionally Valentine. At the time, Robert was working the numbers for the Circle Mob, helping them skim money to pull in wealth for their operations. She found out who he _really_ worked for when he asked her if she’d rule in favor of a mistrial for some minor indictments of certain low level Circle Mob members in an upcoming court case. She was so furious that she demanded a divorce on the spot, took all three of the kids, and never looked back.

“I thought he was so secretive because maybe he was cheating but it was so much worse than that. He was cheating _and_ he was helping a racist gang - despite being married to a Latina! It’s just -” She groans in frustration, looking down at her plate with a tight grip on her fork. “I mean all I knew was that he was a _businessman_ and a good father to his children so at first I ignored the late night phone calls and sneaking out at dark. When I found out the truth, I felt so hurt and lied to but mostly foolish for letting it go on so long.”

It’s a feeling that Magnus knows all too well himself.

Luke reaches across the table for her hand that is tightly gripping the fork. “That’s all on him and not on you. You made the best choice you could once you knew everything, you left with the kids, and you raised them entirely on your own for years. You are the complete opposite of a fool.”

Maryse offers Luke a watery smile. “Thank you my love.” She leans forward and kisses him soundly.

When they break their kiss, Maryse doesn’t stray too far, remaining close as she looks into Luke’s shining eyes.  “I didn’t actually meet Luke again until a couple of years ago when I was stopping by the nine-nine to have lunch with Isabelle on her first day. We started talking and something just clicked.”

“It was the right time for both of us.”

Having more of a background into Luke and Maryse’s relationship and lives simply increases the respect that Magnus feels for them, for all that they’ve worked against and for. He knows they are incredibly hardworking and intelligent people that have gone through a great deal of pain. He goes to sleep that night feeling grateful that they found each other again.

When Magnus strolls down to the kitchen for breakfast the next morning, he’s surprised to see Clary already there, dressed and eating cereal. He knows for a fact that she was _not_ at the house when he went to bed last night.

“Good morning Clary?”

She doesn’t even look up from her bowl of cereal, “Morning Captain.”

Magnus sets up his coffee and butters some toast, both of them eating in relative silence for a minute or two before he just has to ask, “So, did you just stop by for breakfast or…?”

“Nope. I stayed the night.” She puts her bowl down and levels Magnus with a disapproving look. “Can’t believe you left me with Simon for my protection detail.”

Magnus snorts from surprise into his coffee. “It’s not just for _your_ protection, it’s for both of your protections. It’s mutual protection - we didn’t want anyone in the squad staying alone.”

Clary doesn’t look swayed in the slightest. “I feel much more protected here with Luke. And no, I didn’t leave Simon all alone - Jace was excited to take Simon in since their apartment was already quiet without Isabelle.”

Magnus nods, understanding Clary’s points perfectly.

“Plus, with my brother being the one out there and missing, I don’t want to have just Simon as my backup if Sebastian tries to contact me or something.”

Now this is a tidbit of information that Magnus was _not_ expecting in the slightest. “What?”

“Sebastian’s my older brother and Valentine’s my biological father. I thought you knew this.”

Magnus squints as he takes Clary in, trying to parse if she’s just pulling his leg. He glances at where Luke now stands in the doorway of the kitchen, shaking his head in dismay at Clary’s lack of tact.

Clary follows Magnus’s gaze to Luke and then back again, “Wait, you didn’t really think that _Luke_ was my biological dad, did you?” Magnus doesn’t say anything because it’s not that he _thought_ that but it’s just that he didn’t ever contemplate Clary’s biological father’s existence. Clary leans forward slightly as she whispers, “Well I’m sorry to be the one to tell you Captain but I thought it was obvious cause I’m… y’know, _white._ ”

Magnus tries to keep his expression neutral, like this new piece of information isn’t sending his whole world reeling. Not the Clary being white information or that Luke isn’t her biological dad but rather that _Valentine Morgenstern_ , notorious power hungry racist, is her biological father. He’s surprised because Clary seems so… _normal_ and nothing like her father. Which Magnus realizes can probably… no definitely be attributed to her upbringing. Nature versus nurture and all that mumbo jumbo. Clearly he fails at looking unaffected for Luke joins them at the kitchen table now, letting out a long sigh.

“Part of the reason I knew I was no longer safe undercover in the Circle Mob was because of my relationship with Valentine’s wife at the time. I was their best friend, I always went everywhere with them. I was even named godfather of their first child.” Luke pauses, letting that information sink in for Magnus.

Luke is Sebastian’s godfather.

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

“Jocelyn and I became closer as my schedule lent me more time to stop by their house and help with the baby. Valentine became more unhinged which pushed us closer still.”

Luke stirs his coffee for a moment, taking time to breathe before continuing on. “The day she found out she was pregnant, with Clary, Jocelyn came to me. She was completely distraught about who the man she married was becoming. Originally, Valentine made the Circle Mob sound almost like a Robin Hood character but then he started targeting certain marginalized groups and lost more and more of his original goals. Jocelyn confessed that she loved me too much and feared that Valentine was plotting to kill me. She wished that she could just escape it all.”

Luke looks back up. “So I turned in my resignation from the undercover position and I took her into witness protection from Valentine with me. We tried to bring her son too but Valentine beat us to him so we fled. We moved out of state for a couple of years while we waited for Valentine to be caught, for us to know we were safe to return.”

“While we lived out of state, Jocelyn received a letter from an old neighbor of hers that sent their condolences for the loss of her son with the newspaper obituary clipping. We mourned his death greatly and until yesterday, I had no idea that he was still alive.”

“Wow. That is… complicated.” Magnus tries to put simply.

Clary makes jazz hands, clearly much more adjusted to the whole concept than he is. “Long lost older brother back from the dead - surprise!”

Luke huffs out a small laugh, Clary’s lightheartedness clearly helping with his own processing of everything. Magnus can’t even imagine the memories of Jocelyn and years undercover this whole ordeal is bringing up for Luke.

“Okay, are there any more surprises that you two want to share with me before we head into the precinct? Like did Jocelyn really die from breast cancer or was it something mob related?” Magnus knows it’s a little harsh but his world is still spinning right now and he wants to make sure all of his facts are straight.

“What? Yes! Why would I lie about something like that?”

“Up until twenty minutes ago I didn’t know that Valentine was Clary’s father so I just wanted to make sure we are on the same page... about everything.” That reminds Magnus of something that he hasn’t told Luke just yet.

“Valid. Do you have anything else that _you_ want to share with us?”

Luke’s always been so great at reading people. But it’s fine, Magnus knows this is information he needs to share with them anyway and the setting is private like he wanted. Magnus pulls a move that is absolutely something he picked up from Simon. In one breathe, Magnus explains, “Actually yes. The loved one that we offered to take into witness protection with Sebastian is his father, Valentine, who’s been in a coma and not dead this whole time.”

“WHAT?!” Eerily similar expressions of outrage appear on Clary and Luke’s faces, making it strikingly clear that he raised her.

Magnus just slowly drinks his coffee, waiting for more legitimate questions to arise. None do and the initial shock eventually slides off their faces. “Well, I think that’s all the shocking truths any of us can handle before 7 am. I think we should start heading into the office or we’ll be late.”

“Yeah… we should do that.” Luke looks a little dazed but stands up from the table nonetheless.

Clary remains seated for a moment, staring off into the distance. “Fuck. My brother _and_ my dad are still alive? Today’s gonna be such a long day.”

Magnus can’t help but agree with that sentiment.

True to Clary’s prediction, Thursday is a long and unproductive day. Simon and Maia are working covertly to follow through with their plan but it’s damn near impossible since Camille has commandeered half of the nine-nine to also do the groundwork of following up on every possible iteration of Sebastian’s schedule that her team outlined in their report.

Magnus, Simon, and Maia are scattered throughout Brooklyn, each with a different federal agent, staking out different places that Sebastian frequented on some Thursday within the past month at that same time. After the second laundromat in one morning that Magnus has staked out, he feels the frustration mounting over the ridiculous situation reach a peak.

This whole thing feels like a waste of their time and resources, especially if Sebastian really _is_ missing. He knows that every hour that passes, the likelihood of solving a kidnapping drops by over 10%. But it’s hard to even say Sebastian is missing because no one has said as much, he just simply didn’t show up on the day he said he would to help the police dismantle the gang he’s worked for and been a part of his whole life.

Magnus feels practically useless the longer he sits in this squad car on a pointless stakeout. He needs to take the rest of the day off or he’s going to explode from all of this internal frustration which he knows will not help a single thing.

There is just so much whirling around in Magnus’s mind, information coming from all sides about so many different things, and Magnus just wants like three hours to think through it and sort everything out. After lunch, he adds a fake doctor’s appointment to his calender with the note saying ‘Mental health day’. He invites Luke to the event so he knows, figuring that he’ll also be the one most likely to understand where Magnus is coming from.

He stops by the breakroom before he heads out, “I won’t be able to scout this afternoon Special Agent in Charge Belcourt, I have a doctor’s appointment that I can’t reschedule.”

He ducks back out before she can even say anything in response. He pauses at Luke’s desk, currently covered in dozens and dozens of stacks of paper. “I’ll have my phone on me though, call me if there any serious developments.”

“Will do, Captain.”

And finally, Magnus is free.

He doesn’t really want to go home at 1:30 pm since he rather not be alone and in his apartment at this moment but going to Luke’s also feels irresponsible. So he decides to head towards his doctor’s office, about a 45 minute walk from the station. He hopes the walk and fresh air will help him with everything he’s feeling. If he still wants to walk, he knows he can keep going over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan. Sometimes hiding in plain sight with hundreds of strangers is the perfect disguise. Plus, all of the background noise sort of creates a white noise around Magnus that allows him to do intense brain-churning, thinking.

Magnus begins sorting out all the details of the case, the breaking and entering, the conversations with Sebastian, the disappearance of Sebastian’s father, and the disappearance of Sebastian. Something just isn’t adding up but Magnus can’t quite grasp it. All of these slip ups clearly point to a mole within their precinct, if not their office but Magnus _knows_ his squad, trusts them with his _life_. And isn’t that a crazy thought, he truly cares for his team and he knows that the longer this case drags out, the more dangerous it gets for all of them. He doesn’t want to let them down, he doesn’t want anything to happen to any of them. They’re all such brilliant, smart, and quirky people and he knows not a single one of them could be the mole.

He knows that without Sebastian, they don’t have a case at all. Without Sebastian, they truly have nothing. No sound of him makes Magnus a little nervous if he’s honest because best case, Sebastian is just off the grid somewhere and was purposefully an ass but worst case, the Clave or Silent Brothers already got him and he’s lying dead somewhere.

Since Magnus can’t make any progress that doesn’t involve actual canvassing for the kid, he focuses his attention on something else he can mull over: the mole. Beyond knowing that _his_ squad is innocent, he doesn’t know who the mole is nor at what level they could be. They could be any person or persons that passes through the nine-nine but they would need to have access to their case file tracking system or database to know their whereabouts or perhaps not since one of the first major leaks was about Valentine being in the hospital. So it could have been someone that works in the autobody shop.

Magnus knows that the only true way to smoke out a mole is to leak some fake information which is precisely what he’ll share with the squad tomorrow when he returns to work.

He wonders if he should’ve warned Camille and her team too since they are now in the same building where the leaks happened. Damn it. He probably should have. He can already hear in his head the condescending lecture Camille is going to give him when she finds out. It’ll definitely touch upon responsibility and ownership of information in regards to his team. He knows she’s going to try to interrogate every one of his detectives, regardless if he tells her that there is no way they could be mole. She’d need hard proof beyond his gut instinct. It already sounds like a whole other headache to add on top of everything and it can definitely be solved later, like tomorrow later.

Magnus took the afternoon off from work to destress not _increase_ his stress. Maybe he needs something to take his mind off work since he clearly doesn’t have his best interests in mind. He finally takes notice of his surroundings, surprised to find himself near his old headquarters in Manhattan when he worked in public relations. He knows there are a couple of good cafes in this area which could serve as the perfect distraction for him. Or maybe even a bar. Actually, nevermind. He’s not sure if he could handle anything that is rolling around in his mind with even a single drink in him.

Magnus turns at the end of the block, enjoying the abundance of the people around him, all with different pasts and heading towards different futures. It makes him feel both alone and unified if that makes sense. He enjoys being one of many, feeling both connected to others and yet recognizing his own individuality. That’s why he’s always loved living in big cities because it allows him to be a somebody that is still a nobody.

A familiar face walking in the opposite direction on the sidewalk catches Magnus by surprise, he reaches out and stops them with a hand on their forearm, “Alexander?”

“Magnus?” Alec’s face immediately morphs from stone faced New Yorker getting where they need to go, to friendly and approachable and _gorgeous_. “What are you doing in Manhattan? I thought there was not a single good thing about this borough - it’s just filled with traffic, trash, and mediocre food with a high price tag?”

Magnus rolls his eyes, remembering all the frustration of trying to get through Manhattan for something that caused that tirade. “You must’ve caught me on a bad day. Not everything about Manhattan is terrible, I mean you’re here.”

It’s a small compliment that just slips out of Magnus with little intention but complete genuineness. Alec’s cheeks pinken in response and Magnus decides not to dwell on his actions too much and just count it as a triumph.

“So you’re just here for me?” Alec voice is flat and unbelieving, making Magnus laugh.

“I needed a break from the office so I took the afternoon off and just... went for a walk. But I’m looking for something to eat now and if you want to join me, that’d just be an added bonus.”

A part of Magnus knows this isn’t the right time to even contemplate pursuing something with Alec, not when the case still has so much potential of becoming dangerous. But Magnus feels worn out and vulnerable, he wants to feel like himself for a little bit and be a little selfish, if that manifests itself in the form of flirting with a pretty face that he maybe like likes then so be it. He feels like he deserves a breather with everything he has going on.

Alec glances at his watch and smiles. “It’s only 4:30 pm but I could eat some dinner?”

“That sounds perfect.” Magnus’s shoulders relax with relief. “I know just the place.”

Magnus gestures with his head and Alec falls in line on the sidewalk, standing so close their elbows knock as they walk. Alec keeps his head focused down, surprising Magnus with a stream of words.

“Jace and Simon told me a bit about the chaos that’s going on in your office, that the case you alluded to me about could actually turn out to be bigger than big. I can only imagine the amount of pressure that you’re feeling right now. And I know it’s not easy, taking some time for yourself, for making you and your mental health a priority. It’s not common in our field nor even as men. I really am proud of you.”

Alec sounds so genuine that Magnus’s throat begins to tighten with all the emotions he feels but can’t properly vocalize right now. He hadn’t realized how badly he needed someone to tell him they are proud of him. It feels really, really good. He offers Alec a small smile. “Add to the mix that my ex is the one heading up the FBI unit and even _I’m_ proud of myself for not having lost my cool yet. And hint, things did _not_ end well between us.”

“Shit. That sounds awful Magnus. I’m exceptionally proud of you now. I think if any of my exes pulled a stunt like that I’d immediately have to leave for a breather.”

“Even Lydia?” Magnus asks with a teasing tilt to his tone.

Alec laughs just like Magnus wanted. “Especially Lydia.”

Magnus holds open the door to an Ethiopian restaurant that’s tucked between small corner market and a souvenir shop. It’s small, warm, well decorated, and the food is always delicious. They take their time at the restaurant too which is perfect for those that want to mostly just talk while occasionally eating.

“You know, I’ve always walked by this place but never stopped in. It smells amazing.” Alec looks around at the couple of people that are already seated in the restaurant. “I haven’t had Ethiopian food in years either.”

“I used to come here every other week when I was working on the police department’s public relations team in Manhattan. It’s one of my favorite hidden gems in this borough.”

They are seated in the middle of the restaurant and given two menus before being left alone to decide. Alec immediately picks up the menu, scanning through the pictures and descriptions while biting his lower lip. Magnus makes no move towards the menu, instead focusing on Alec and how the soft yellow lighting make him look even warmer. He looks up as if sensing a gaze on him, his smile small. “What?”

Magnus doesn’t feel brave enough to mention his growing attraction just yet so he settles on something else, “Want to share a sampler?”

“That sounds perfect - so much looks really good on the menu but I trust your recommendations.”

Magnus smiles, looking down at his menu a moment before another idea comes to mind. “Also, do you mind if we don’t discuss work for a bit? I just want a break from it for a little while and to talk with you.”

Alec’s smile softens as do his eyes. “Of course I don’t mind. There is more to me than being the Deputy Commissioner.”

Magnus chuckles, shaking his head as he teases right back, “Sure there is.”

“I’ll even prove it to you.” Alec stands up suddenly, nearly toppling their waiter with their water glasses. Alec apologizes profusely to their waiter while Magnus laughs openly about the whole charade. The waiter looks both unamused and unsurprised by it, probably used to it happening in the small restaurant space. Magnus sombers enough to rattle off their order to the waiter before they leave.

“There.” Magnus looks back to Alec, who now has rid himself of his navy blue Deputy Commissioner jacket. He’s even rolled up his sleeves to his forearms and opened the top button of his white button down too, giving him a more relaxed look, like they aren’t just work friends but perhaps something more… something that would involve seeing each other on the weekends and going out for drinks and maybe even occasionally going on dates and holding hands and kissing.

Beyond that, the gesture to also remove the physical presence of work in addition to agree to not talk about work touches Magnus. He begins to unbutton his navy captain’s jacket as well, until he is at the same level of undress as Alec.

Magnus rolls up the sleeves of his crisp white button down slowly, feeling Alec’s heavy gaze the whole time. Magnus smirks to himself, purposefully flexing his biceps to pull at the material, remembering Alec’s linger gaze from their Dolly Printon episode. Magnus loosens his tie next before unbuttoning his shirt as well. He looks up once he’s done, meeting Alec’s gaze head on. He doesn’t hide his blatant looking either, his smile staying coy. The confidence makes something in the pit of Magnus’s stomach grow warm.

“That was a good idea.”

“I know,” Alec agrees with a simple eyebrow raise, letting his eyes quickly glance down over Magnus’s everything. He’s so, so grateful that the attraction is a mutual one too.

Now that he knows Alec isn’t straight, Magnus wonders how he ever missed this tension between them and the blatant flirting on Alec’s part. Sure, it isn’t as blatant all the time but the signs were definitely there the whole time. Magnus feels like a fool for claiming to be a great detective but never noticing this _something_ growing between him and Alec until it was practically threatening to drive Magnus insane.

“Wait, when we say no work talk, does that include the people either one of us work with? Aka my siblings? Because I’m pretty sure if I couldn’t talk about them, there wouldn’t be much more to me.”

Magnus laughs again, always surprised by how easy it is to laugh around Alec. “I highly doubt that Alec but they’re fine to talk about. Have any good gossip about them that you’re itching to share?”

Alec smiles, looking right and left before leaning a little further over the table, “Well… I think my sister has a boyfriend.”

“Oh really…”

“Not that I monitor her comings and goings out of our apartment but sometimes when I ask her if she’s going to be home for dinner, so I know how much to cook, she’ll get super skittish instead of just saying no.”

Magnus chuckles because he can imagine a stuttering Isabelle as she tries to come up with some sort of excuse.

“She’s always been a terrible liar as well as weird about dating.” Alec leans back in his chair again. “But she may have also started a new community service activity and doesn’t want us to make fun of her for it. It could always go either way with her. Regardless, I know she’ll tell me when she’s ready,” Alec adds with a shrug, as if it really is that simple.

Magnus knows the Lightwood sibling bond is a really strong one but it still surprises him. Perhaps it’s because their relationship was forged from family but didn’t have the forced pressure of being blood related that comes from society. This notion that one should love and embrace their family, _all_ of their family, the good and the bad because one can never escape one’s own blood, is bullshit in Magnus’s eyes.

If he never saw his blood father again, Magnus knows he’d be perfectly fine and he feels no need to keep a candle lit for his father either. Not everyone feels that way though, especially if the lines aren’t terribly clear cut about the family being _bad_. It’s those gray areas where things get murky and people judge decisions made to cut the unhealthy parts out of one’s life.

It reminds Magnus of Clary and her benevolence about her father and her brother, indifferent to their blood relation for she knows in her heart that she does not want nor need them in her life. It reminds Magnus of a lighter topic too. “How’s having Simon as a roommate?”

Alec groans, dragging his hands down his face, and Magnus grins, having an inkling that this would be the response. Alec mutters through his fingers, “Insufferable.”

He puts his hands back down on the table. “Simon does keep Jace level headed which I think is good long term. But Simon didn’t come until about 10 pm last night and that’s when he and Jace decided to start watching every Nicholas Cage movie ever made. Thank god they only made it through the first National Treasure last night before falling asleep. That is a marathon that I don’t think I will survive. I just do _not_ see that man’s appeal.”

“Simon has been talking about the National Treasure movies a lot lately…” But why? Magnus has not a clue. “Yeah, he’s not my cup of tea either.”

Alec leans forward, resting his elbows on the table as he clasps his hands. He rests his chin on top of his hands. “What _is_ your cup of tea?”

Magnus finds himself fighting back a blush at the forward question, he likes this confident side of Alec that has come out now that _he’s_ come out so to speak to Magnus. He’s always been attracted to hardworking, beautiful people, those who know what they want and go for it, that are also kind, especially to him. He leans forward, mimicking Alec’s posture with a coy smile. “Well-”

Right as Magnus is about to respond, their waiter appears with their food. “A meat lovers sampler.” The plate is a big injera with three different preparations of meat with lentils and collard greens along the edge. Alec and Magnus both move back to allow the waiter to actually place the dish on their table. They place a smaller plate on the corner near Alec with more injeras.

Alec thanks the waiter and reassures them that they don’t need anything else before they leave.

“My stomach just started rumbling at the sight of food - I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was.”

“Me neither but now I definitely am,” Alec says as he offers the plate of injeras. Magnus rips one in half, unrolling the thin tortilla like bread so that he can use it to scoop up a bit of the meat. Alec does the same on the other side of the table, groaning at his first bite. “God, this is so good.”

“That one’s my favorite,” Magnus says as he gestures with his injera to the spicy tomato and beef.

Alec’s eyes go wide and he laughs quietly to himself. “I just remembered why I haven’t had Ethiopian food in years.”

“Bad experience?” Magnus prompts.

“Terrible.” Alec’s expression is dead serious. “I was on a first date with a guy who didn’t know you were supposed to eat with your hands so he got us kicked us for arguing with our waiter for a fork.”

Magnus laughs at that mental imagine alone, it makes the corner of Alec’s lips twitch up, almost breaking his over the top serious expression. “Magnus, I was so mortified that I haven’t stepped foot in another Ethiopian restaurant since.”

“Please tell me that he didn’t get a second date.”

Alec shakes his head no as he finishes chewing his food. “Hell no. I have standards and the bare minimum includes being kind and courteous to service workers, like waiters and cashiers.”

“I think that’s reasonable and a minimum I definitely meet.” Alec nods his head in agreement. “Well one time I was on a date with this girl, I think it was like our third or fourth too, and she had never been to a sushi restaurant even though she’d had sushi before.”

“Oh no… I have a feeling I know where this is going.” Alec’s eyes are comically wide.

“Yes, exactly. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and when I came back she was crying and her nose was running and our poor waiter, who was like a child at the time, couldn’t get her to stop crying for long enough to explain what was wrong but I noticed that the wasabi was missing. Apparently when she heard palette cleanser, she thought they meant the entire thing instead of just a bit.”

Alec laughs loud at Magnus’s story, making him feel a little pleased to have generated such a response.

“She wasn’t the brightest bulb but she was really sweet,” Magnus justifies.

That’s how they spend the rest of their dinner, swapping stories about worst dates, favorite restaurants, and best meals until they finish all of the food on their dish without a single injera to spare. Alec seems to enjoy food just as much as Magnus which is always nice in a partner, not that this is a date or that he is even thinking how he can juggle dating in his schedule right now but maybe in the future when things have quieted down a little more.

Once they’ve paid the check, leaving a generous tip to account for the large amount of time Magnus knows they’ve spent there. Curious, he looks at the clock on the wall behind Alec, surprised to see that it’s already almost 8 pm. Where did the past three hours go? Magnus lays his hand against the table, reaching across to grab Alec’s hand. Magnus squeezes gently and smiles warmly, “Thank you for this. For tonight. This was really nice and I really needed it.”

“Any time. I enjoyed tonight too.” Alec looks so open and honest. Magnus knows exactly what is coming, he tries not to pull away to give the wrong impression, especially when he initiated this. “And, I’d like to do it again sometime if you would too… Perhaps in a more official capacity, like as a date.”

Magnus sighs, wanting nothing more in the world than to say yes, especially after a really lovely, almost date filled with long glances and endless flirting. But he knows it would be unfair, to both him and Alec.

Magnus weighs his words carefully, “I would love that… I really would. But I can’t right now, not with everything that’s going on with this case. I just don’t feel comfortable starting something new with you during a potentially dangerous time.... And it wouldn’t feel fair for me to say yes, knowing I couldn’t give you even a small fraction of my attention. And I’m not asking you to wait for me either but perhaps when things quiet back down and the Feds leave, if you’re still single and interested, we could.”

Magnus feels like an ass and knows he deserves aggravation for leading Alec on all night, but instead he just smiles, eyes soft and kind. “I appreciate the honesty and I completely get it - can’t say I wouldn’t do the same.”

He raises Magnus’s hand and kisses the back of his knuckles. His heart flutters like a damn damsel in a Jane Austen novel and he curses the effect that Alec seems to have, but appreciative of the small gesture of affection just the same.

“As for waiting for you, I’ve been trying to figure out if you were interested in me from the first moment we met outside the interview room for Deputy Commissioner. I thought you were brilliant, charismatic, and absolutely beautiful. So I’m not saying I’m going to wait for you either but you do set a pretty high bar.”

Magnus can’t contain his grin, wishing that he could lean across the table and just kiss Alec with everything Magnus’s feeling. But he knows if he does, he might not be able to stop which is the exact opposite of what he wants and needs right now.

Alec’s expression sombers for a moment. “And I know we agreed to a no work clause over dinner but since dinner’s done and the bill is paid, I think it’s officially lifted.” Magnus rolls his eyes at Alec’s semantics, wondering where he is going with this. “Don’t forget you have support higher up now, you have my support in the Deputy Commissioners’ office. Please don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you need it, okay?”

“Okay.” Magnus squeezes Alec’s hand before releasing him to stand up. Magnus grabs his jacket, folding it over his arm. Alec follows suit and they head outside.

Once outside, Magnus turns to Alec, not quite ready to part ways just yet. “Thanks Alexander.”

Alec smiles but raises an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For tonight. For being understanding. For not being straight,” Magnus mentions casually, like he’s going through a list in his head.

A big laugh startles out of Alec at that last part and Magnus grins, feeling victorious once again.

“Oh my god - that explains so much now. You had a terrible case of heteronormativity!”

Magnus fights an embarrassed blush, rolling his eyes with a fond smile. “And on that note, I should head back now. It’s getting pretty late and I’m sure I have another long day tomorrow.”

“Of course - text me when you get to Luke’s so I know you’re safe?” Alec’s question is earnest and makes Magnus melt even more.

“Absolutely. Good night Deputy Commissioner Alec.” Magnus winks, working the once snub into a teasing remark now.

“Good night Captain Bane.”

Magnus wakes up Friday morning feeling a lot more in control of himself and all the stress circling in his mind this past week. He’s not sure if it is from taking yesterday afternoon off from work, sleeping for nine beautiful hours, or a nice dinner almost-date complete with a feelings discussion with a certain deputy commissioner. Regardless of whichever is to pinpoint for the success, Magnus feels on top of the world.

All morning, things that definitely would’ve driven Magnus to the point of yelling the previous day  seem so miniscule. Camille’s not so subtle jabs, the lack of progress from any front on the case, and even the lack of good samaritan effort to make a new pot when finishing off the coffee doesn’t raise Magnus’s hackles in the slightest. He’s well aware the situation is shitty and frustrating but they are doing the best they can.

Of course it all goes to shit about mid morning.

Magnus and Luke are going over the highlights from three different cork board white boards that are covered in evidence, key case details, and a timeline. He has an idea, depending on if they can find Sebastian and what sort of information he shares, of which of the potential defense routes they can go down. Even with almost 50 years worth of case data, there is very, very little to relate any of these cases to each other and the Silent Brothers. Their profile is truly so low, if they didn’t have perps from these cases that were known to be associated with the Silent Brothers, then it’d be pretty impossible to connect them at all.

Looking for the Silent Brothers is a lot like looking for a ghost, the harder one looks and more almost evidence one captures, the less one believes the whispers as anything more than a whisper. Magnus thinks if he and Luke didn’t have first hand accounts of the talks of the Silent Brothers, then their squad would be even more screwed than they are now.

It’s hard to build a case from hearsay and it’s even harder to build a case from hearsay about people that plant ideas but never execute them.

Magnus hears a commotion in the hallway. He and Luke turn just enough from their position to watch Simon stagger away from Maia’s desk that he just crashed into and glance into the debriefing room where the three cork boards remain. He and Luke share a look, wondering what antics Simon is up to and how long it will take him to find them.

Simon quickly turns his head to the right after realizing Magnus is not one of the people in the room and heads quickly for Magnus’s office. Simon doesn’t even knock, just opens the door fully, not even registering the loud noise it makes when it hits the bookshelf behind it.

“Captain, I… I have an update.”

Magnus simply raises an eyebrow for Simon to continue, wondering if the dramatics are truly necessary for whatever he’s about to share.

“A hospital in Long Island City just called me because they just identified me as the emergency contact for one of their patients that’s in the ICU and has been since Wednesday. They have him - I think they have Sebastian.”

Out of all the potential outcomes that Magnus envisioned, Sebastian being alive was at the very bottom of that list due to very low possibility of it coming true.

“How do you know it’s him? I thought you and Maia had put an APB out to all the hospitals and morgues for him?”

“First of all, putting out an ABP for a dirty blonde, white man in his early thirties that appears in the hospital and potentially unconscious, yielded way more daily false Sebastians than I expected. Side note white, blonde men need to get their shit together. And two, I don’t _know_ know it’s him because they can’t identify him. He has no wallet nor are his fingerprints in their database but he had my number on a napkin that said to call in case of an emergency and they described him to me. We have to go to the hospital itself to be able to know for certain.”

Camille suddenly appears in the doorway, “You found him?”

“Not for certain, but we’re hopeful,” Luke replies shortly.

“My team and I will get him and bring him here then.”

“No, you will not do that Special Agent in Charge Belcourt for multiple reasons.” Magnus meets Camille’s furious gaze head on, refusing to be cowed about something as important and serious as this. His nerves feel steady and his plan unravels itself easily in front of him. “One, we do not know the condition that Sebastian is in or if he is even able to be moved right now. Two, Simon and I are the only two people out of both of our teams that have interacted with Sebastian in person and know exactly what he looks like. And three, this case is being worked on by both of us, together, so representatives from both of our teams need to go.”

Camille can’t even argue with Magnus because she knows all of his points are valid and she is annoyed about it, evident in her clenched jaw.

“Fine. You and Simon will accompany me and my team to the hospital then.”

“And take two cars? Unnecessary waste of resources to check out the situation. You and someone from your team will travel in a squad car with Simon and I to the hospital. You will need the rest of your team here to help mine jumpstart the process of completing the necessary documentation for Sebastian to enter witness protection if this is indeed him. Luke will lead the charge here in the office while we go to the hospital.”

Luke nods his understanding from next to Magnus but his gaze never leaves Camille’s, refusing to let her try to steal the thunder from this big, important case from him. He can only imagine the sort of clout it has the potential to give him in his precinct and he imagines that it will have power within the FBI as well or else they wouldn’t have a whole special team dedicated to the Clave and Silent Brothers.

He doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction of a potential rebuttal so he dismisses them all, “Now suit up, we leave in ten.”

~~~

The car ride over to the hospital is so tense that Magnus is already scheduling a mandatory massage in the back of his mind. Camille’s sitting up front with him, gripping the door handle so hard that he can see the color draining from her fingertips. No one dares say a word either, Simon included, as if their words could break the hope that hangs in the air at the potential for this to _actually_ be Sebastian.

They enter the hospital, bulletproof vests on under their NYPD and FBI windbreakers but no weapons drawn. They already walk in a straight line, but draw the line at weapons so not to look any more suspicious than four bulky police personnel look entering an emergency room already do. Simon breaks forward from their line as they near the check in desk.

“Hi! Welcome to the Emergency Room! Do you have your insurance card? What can we do for you today?” An overly friendly voice greets Simon.

“Hi… Kimberly,” he adds, tilting his head to read the emergency room nurse’s name tag. “I was just called about being an emergency contact for someone unidentified in the ICU. I’m with the NYPD.”

From next to Magnus, Camille lets out a sharp cough and he can’t hold back his eye roll.

“And the Feds,” Simon tacts on the afterthought.

Kimberly doesn’t look fazed in the slightest, a smile almost too wide to be truly friendly not shrinking in size as they look beyond Simon to the rest of the party. They refocus on Simon as they pull forth a clipboard from the desk draw. “I can take you to them as soon as you fill out this form, claiming liability for your friend in all matters. Including if your friend does not make it and does not have health insurance, you will be the one billed for all their medical expenses.”

Simon sounds horrified, “What?”

Magnus can only imagine how unlikely it is for a gang to have a group health insurance policy in place but perhaps Sebastian did qualify for medicaid. Magnus wonders if maybe mobs have life insurance policies… probably not sponsored by their employers but maybe on their own.

Kimberly simply repeats what they said earlier with less cheer, “You are the emergency contact and therefore responsible on all levels for your friend. And I will not take you to them until you fill out the forms consenting to such.”

“Well when you put it that way, what’s a hill of more debt to an already existent mountain of it?” Simon begins to fill out the required information on the relatively short form. He mumbles under his breath, “Our healthcare system is truly a disaster.”

Once he finishes filling out the form and hands the clipboard back to Kimberly, they smile again, in their way too wide manner.

“Perfect. Follow me to the Intensive Care Unit. Sarah’s on duty and she’ll know specifics.”

Magnus and their group follow Kimberly through the swinging doors and down a couple of brightly lit white hallways. Suddenly they stop at another corner desk station.

“Hi Sarah! These people are here for that weird John Doe with the emergency contact written on a napkin in his pocket!”

Sarah, presumably, looks up from the computer in front of her and nods her head at Kimberly. In a much more subdued voice, Sarah asks, “And one of them signed for John Doe?”

“Yup! The one named Simon did.”

“Thanks. I got it from here.” Sarah stands up now, clearly dismissing Kimberly back to their realm of friendly greetings and wide smiles.

Sarah rounds the desk with a thin manilla envelope in hand, she takes in their NYPD and FBI jackets and raises a single eyebrow.

“If this person is who we think they are, then they are a crucial witness in a major dangerous criminal case,” Simon explains at the silent question.

“Badges.”

All four of them pull their badges out from under their jackets, offering them to Sarah who looks over each one of them. Once she decides they are legit, she nods her head.

“Well, you’ll need them to wake up first.” Sarah starts leading them down another hallway that they have not yet walked down. “But that could also explain why they were found two days ago, knocked unconscious in a cemetery at 5 am. They sustained blunt force trauma to the back of their head, fracturing their skull. The impact of the trauma caused them to hit their face on the edge of a tombstone, breaking their nose and cheekbone.”

Sarah speaks calmly about the gruesome attack, pushing open the door to a room that is alive with the sound of machines. On the hospital bed, a body lays in a mint green gurney and a head so wrapped in gauze that only a couple of tufts of dirty blond hair and two bruised eye sockets are visible. Honestly, Magnus can’t even tell from just looking at the body if it is Sebastian. They look small and so fragile.

“They’re in a sleep induced coma for now to keep the brain swelling to a minimum and heal them as much as possible to hopefully lessen the pain they’ll feel when they _do_ wake up. They are breathing on their own and healing slowly, but they _are_ healing.”

Camille and Simon step closer now, both looking at the hands that lay above the white hospital blanket. Simon must see the angelic rune tattoo for he looks back to Magnus and nods once.

“I think they’re only alive because who ever was trying to kill ‘em, was interrupted before they could finish the job,” Sarah remarks as she brings out photos from the manilla envelope to accent her previous explanation, handing them over to Magnus. “That and the kid is clearly stubborn as hell.”

Magnus nods in agreement, eyes scanning over the photos in his hand. Trying to see any sort of sign about if this is a job from the Clave or Silent Brothers or someone else entirely. It’s way too messy to be the Silent Brothers but perhaps the Clave wanted some sort of poetic justice of murdering Sebastian in a graveyard.

Simon must’ve moved closer when Sarah gave Magnus the photos for now from next to him, Simon comments. “Weird, that’s Clary’s mom’s gravestone. What’re the odds that Sebastian would be attacked there?”

Magnus’s eyes go wide at that tidbit, finally reading the tombstone as ‘Jocelyn Fray’ and putting the familiar name together. If Sebastian was paying his respects to his mother before he potentially moved somewhere far, far away and people, like an enemy that wanted him dead, knew that, then the odds would be pretty high. It seems that Simon doesn’t know that Sebastian is Clary’s brother and Magnus _knows_ that isn’t his piece of information to share.

He looks up at Sarah, nodding his head. “Thanks for these photos and all the information Sarah. We really appreciate it and it’ll help him in the long run.”

Sarah shrugs. “Just doing my job.” She looks over at Sebastian, her lips tightening for a moment. “Hopefully when he wakes up, he’ll be able to identify his attacker and you guys can put them away for life. Anyone that can commit violence like that deserves to be locked up forever. There is too much violence in this world.”

She looks exhausted and Magnus gets it in a way. Once they had three murder cases back to back in the nine-nine and it took an emotional toll on the whole squad.

Camille chimes in from next to Sebastian’s bed, “I can imagine with all you see come through the ICU - you probably become desensitized from it to survive.”

Sarah’s eyebrows pull together in offense, “No. It never stops being sad and it always hurts but we heal a lot of those victims and that keeps me going. I don’t expect cops to get that though.”

It’s a small dig at all the violence that police also contribute to the world, Magnus knows. He sees where Sarah comes from, knows she’s probably had to treat some of those victims herself and he doesn’t take it personally. He knows that his squad works hard to work with the communities to make them safer but the system is still rigged and imperfect and can always be improved.

He cuts in before anyone can take offense, “Since he is who we expected, we’re going to set up a police detail for Sebastian since he’s a key witness and work with you to make sure we are not in the way. We need to discuss the detail amongst us and then one of us will come discuss the logistics with you.”

Sarah nods her head in understanding, turning to exit the room.

Right before she leaves, Magnus calls out, “Thanks again for all your help and information Sarah.”

Sarah leaves without a response, not that Magnus expected one either. He turns to face Camille, her team member that he never learned the name of, and Simon.

“Jason, take the first detail while Magnus, Simon, and I discuss how to best utilize our resources. Now that we have found our only evidence, we don’t want a single unprotected moment to be the reason this opportunity leaves us again,” Camille orders, solving Magnus’s mystery in one go. Jason complies without another word.

“I think it makes sense for us to have at least two people on a detail here at a time. One at the door and one in here, in case Sebastian wakes up,” Magnus suggests, back straight and gaze hard, demanding Camille to fight him on it.

To his surprise, she simply nods her agreement. “I want a federal officer to be the detail in the room. I’ll take the first shift.”

Simon’s face looks offended at the ridiculous demand and Magnus keeps his expression cool. “Since the attack happened in our jurisdiction that requires a local agent to take the statement, so that’ll only work if someone from my team is in the room too.”

“But we’ll also take the door detail.”

It’s just her posturing at this point, refusing to fully accept any aspect of Magnus’s plan.

“Not alone. We’ll have a post too. Strength in numbers - two Feds and two NYPD agents.”

Camille’s jaw tightens, clearly knows she is cornered with minimal physical bodies on her team as resources. She barely spits out, “Fine.”

Simon and Magnus exchange a head nod, pleased that it was as painless as possible to come to that conclusion. Simon looks away, back at Sebastian with a far off expression.

“I can’t believe that Sebastian wrote my number as his emergency contact - I’ve never been someone’s before.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow at that, remembering the debacle in the bullpen the day that Jace removed Isabelle as his emergency contact and set Simon instead since he never fails to answer Jace’s calls, even when in the shower which is why Isabelle was booted from the title. Alec was demoted because he didn’t answer when he was at the movies. “Aren’t you Jace’s emergency contact?”

“Yeah but it’s never for anything medical, just for his 3am brilliant recipe ideas. Plus, he’s mine so it cancels out.”

Magnus snorts out a chuckle at that, feeling some tension leave him at how this conversation feels almost _normal_.

“I just mean, I’m honored that Sebastian trusts me enough for that sort of title.”

Now Camille laughs at that, “I know, especially after the last time he trusted you to help him and his family with witness protection, his comatose father suddenly disappeared.”

Magnus immediately stiffens as those words leave her mouth, his eyes dart to Simon who looks equally startled. That is information that they purposefully did _not_ disclose during the initial debriefing session with the Feds and the nine-nine. The idea that Camille somehow found out that detail or overheard their conversation is very unsettling.

“Wait, how do you know that Sebastian’s loved one was his father? We didn’t name them during our debriefing,” Magnus asks as calmly as possible, feeling both on edge and out of the loop. His mind is racing through all the times that they’ve mentioned Valentine being alive and whether or not Camille was also present.

Camille shrugs, completely oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. “It was in Simon’s case file about signing out the ambulance for Sebastian’s father that tipped me off about circling in on the Silent Brothers. Plus, we all know who Sebastian’s father is. I didn’t think that was top secret information.”

Camille rolls her eyes at their guardedness and Magnus relaxes slightly, still not quite feeling settled about the whole thing.

“Oh right, I forgot that you guys have access to our files,” Simon says, even though his eyebrows stay scrunched. His stomach rumbles loudly enough for them all to hear and his cheeks pinken in embarrassment. “Crap. I forgot about lunch - I’m going to check out the cafeteria while I call the nine-nine to let them know we found Sebastian as well as set up our rotation schedule.”

“Good idea Detective - update me with any new developments. I’ll take the first detail in the room.” Magnus hopes his uncertainty comes through in his words, that this whole situation still makes him feel a little unnerved.

“You guys want me to look for anything for you guys?”

“I had a granola bar in the car.”

“I’ll take peanut m&ms if you find some,” Magnus asks.

Simon nods his head and heads out the door, eyebrows already drawn tight like his mind is elsewhere. Magnus wants to say be safe or something like that but he fears that voicing that out loud could be dangerous, jinxing them somehow.

“Is this case making you _that_ stressed?” Camille’s voice sounds teasing but in a pointed way. “You only indulge in chocolate when you’re truly stressed.”

Camille used to love how Magnus was always so willing to share his emotions, said she could read him like a book. He looks at her, _really_ looks at her. Her expression is almost blank with a single eyebrow raised, as she gazes upon him. She looks both achingly familiar and terribly distant at the same time. He wonders for how much of their “relationship” she wore this same blank mask, the one that he used to love to tease out little clues and hints about her emotions, loved the challenge of understanding her. He feels like a fool now, no one’s love should ever purposely make themselves hard to read, distancing themselves at all times. They shouldn’t make one work hard to _know_ them and then be upset when one misreads them. Relationships should be built on openness and fairness, on understanding and communication.

Magnus knows now that it was not a game of love, it was a game of power.

She looks away, a sly smile on her lips. “Glad to see some things haven’t changed about you…”

“Of course I’m stressed about the case Camille, it’s going to be a huge deal.”

“Could. It _could_ be a huge deal if Sebastian is still willing to go on trial or even remember anything useful, not to mention if he ever wakes up.”

“Glad to see you’re still so pessimistic Special Agent Belcourt.”

“Not a pessimist, Mags. Just a realist.”

Magnus rolls his eyes at her dramatics and stupid nickname that she uses just because he hates it. He’s never considered himself to always be an optimist or true believer but compared to Camille’s view on the world, it almost seems like he is.

“Well, Sebastian’s just in a medically induced coma for now so he could wake up any moment. We might as well make ourselves comfortable as we wait.” Magnus pulls over one of the padded waiting chairs from against the wall. He sits down on one side of Sebastian, not surprised when Camille mimics the move but sitting on the _other_ side with her back to the door. As if he will be better protected with them on opposite ends.

They are silent for a couple of minutes and Magnus is perfectly fine with that, passing the time between old lovers with no noise, but apparently Camille is not.

“I guess I can see why this case is so stressful for you. A case this big could probably  open all sorts of opportunities and doors for you, maybe even the Deputy Commissioner's.”

Magnus shrugs, not caring enough to give Camille the satisfaction of engaging with her. It feels a little pointed, like she is reminding him that he has yet to achieve his dream of Deputy Commissioner but maybe he’s also reading too much into it. He knows that he shouldn’t be surprised that she still remembers intimate, personal bits of his life, like his dreams and weaknesses. It still makes him feel a little odd though for he remembers or knows so little about her.

“What’s his name again? Adam? Alfred?”

“Alec Lightwood,” Magnus instantly corrects and Camille’s smile sharpens. Suddenly Magnus realizes what Camille was _actually_ getting at about her comment. She didn’t mean the door as a figure of speech for opportunity but rather for romantic interest. He looks at her, slightly incredulous with an eyebrow raised. He doesn’t even feel like he needs to voice his confusion about the snide remark but boy, does he feel it.

“What? Don’t look at me like that.” She scoffs. “I saw the way you looked at him the other day when he came into the office. I’ve been on the receiving end of that heart eyed look before, I know what it means.”

Magnus swears Camille just wants to hear herself talk and maybe rub it in his face how easy it still is for her to read him. He hates it for it unnerves him, the discomfort in his stomach grows and not for the first time, he wonders how ever he thought she was _the_ one for him.

“I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s a shame that he’s gay…” She sounds almost wistful and the discomfort just grows in Magnus. He hates when people say shit like that, like not being a viable romantic option to someone makes that person a waste. He also feels a little foolish and like a bad detective if someone from outside their precinct already knew or could tell Alec’s sexuality in just a couple of days. Was Magnus just that dense the whole time?

“You did always like the prettiest and smartest ones. And I know you always like showing off for those that you’re interested in. You used to tell me all about these cases where the suspect was only apprehended because of _you_. It was cute. And I’m sure there is no better way to flaunt your skills than taking down one of the most powerful and longest standing secret mafias that New York City, if not the whole United States, has ever seen.”

Magnus wonders if Camille is just trying to get a rise out of him, make him so uncomfortable with all these slights about his character that he lashes out at her. He feels a little guilty to say that it’s working and if he doesn’t take a breather soon, he might just snap. Camille looks away from Magnus at last, as if she senses that he’s nearly at his limits. Her eyes focus on Sebastian, as if she has finally figured it all out.

“Which is why you’re so stressed cause you need to rely on our Jesus Christ here as much as the Christians do to make something happen with Alec.”

Magnus stills in his seat, all the discomfort in his stomach now freezing over. Magnus knows for a fact that the codename for Sebastian that Simon and Magnus used was never shared beyond them. There is _no_ way she could possibly know that unless… unless someone eavesdropping in on their conversation told her… someone like the _mole_. Regardless, who that mole is means that Camille is also compromised, that she has an illegal informant in the nine-nine precinct.

Perhaps that is why she’s been working so hard to get under his skin this whole time, to distract from her other motives.

Magnus needs to alert Simon immediately.

“Well this has been an enlightening analysis of my psyche. I’m going to go to the bathroom now. Unless you think that relieving my bladder will somehow diminish myself in the Deputy Commissioner’s eyes?”

Camille barks out a laugh at Magnus’s annoyed retort. “I’m just putting the pieces together Magnus, no need to be so testy about that fact that I can still read you like a picture book.”

And Magnus can still read pieces of Camille too, knows that her pride and cockiness are her downfall. She wants them to know she is not on the same page as them in any regards, rather that she is a step ahead. She’ll often reveal too much in order to prove that she is the _best_ or smartest in the room. Magnus may have liked to show off his skills but Camille liked everyone to feel inferior to her.

He doesn’t even respond, just standing up and heading for the door, deciding to play up his aggravation like her unnerving tactics are working as intended instead of answering so many of his lingering questions. He looks down the hallway, no sign of Simon in sight but the Federal Agent Jacob or Mark or Chris or something leans against the wall, cell phone in hand.

“Hey… kid. Have you seen Simon?”

The agent doesn’t even look up. “Who?”

“Simon… the other NYPD detective? The friendly Latino with short brown hair?”

“Oh the chatty one of your bunch. Yup, I haven’t seen him since we got here.”

“Okay. Thanks for all your help.” Magnus doesn’t even hide the bitterness in his voice.

Completely ignored and undeterred from playing the game on their phone, “No problem.”

Magnus glances from left to right down the hallway, trying to decide which direction to head in to start his search. He begins to go towards the left, fairly certain that is the direction from which they came. He reaches the end of the hallway and both options look equally similar which is the opposite of helpful. He even looks behind him, looking for any sort of signage to help lead him to the cafeteria. He goes left just because, his mind already made up to ask the first person he sees for help.

Further up the hallway, someone paces outside of a closed door with a phone against their ear. Magnus feels a little stupid for it reminds him of his own cell phone that sits in his pocket. He fishes it out of his coat pocket and calls Simon without a second thought. The phone rings and rings and rings until it goes to his voicemail. Magnus hangs up and tries again. This time it goes to voicemail mid ring and that unsettles him for some reason.

The reality of just how treacherous the situation comes to him now with the FBI _and_ the Silent Brothers involved. Simon is in danger. The entire nine-nine squad is in danger. Shit. Even _Sebastian_ is in danger.

Immediately Magnus realizes his mistake in leaving a vulnerable Sebastian with _Camille_. Magnus quickly turns around, running back down the hallway that he just came down, turning and continuing towards Sebastian’s room. Magnus quickly opens the group text with the squad as he runs, wasting no time to stop and text. He simply sends the agreed up emergency emoji that they all make sure to have in their recents page: the eggplant emoji.

It’s times like this that Magnus is grateful for the idiosyncrasies of his odd squad, glad that Isabelle and Simon spent the time to think of _and_ execute the idea. Even though most of the time the emergency isn’t life or death, it’s just a preliminary alert and Magnus knows it’ll get across his concern.

As Magnus reaches the end of the empty hallway, he realizes that the Federal Agent is no longer stationed outside a door to serve as his beacon. Suddenly the bottom of his stomach drops as complete fear overcomes him: _what if he is too late?_

He knows he has no time for these negative, pessimistic emotions, well aware that they’ll hinder them instead of help him. He takes a deep breath as he approaches the door that is the only fully closed one with the green indicator on, signalling that a patient is in the room. He completely closes off and pushes down his emotions, his reactions, his fears just like he trained himself to do all those years ago. His mind is quiet but calculating, focusing entirely on the different scenarios that could lie on the other side of that door and the best way to handle them based on his experience and training.

Magnus’s hand goes to his taser on his side, unbuttoning its holder and resting his hand on top as he pushes the door open slowly, aware he could find Camille just sitting there where he left her, completely gone with Sebastian dead, or something in the middle of those two options. Magnus just hopes that he has surprise on his side.

He opens the door quickly, his eyes taking in the entire scene in front of him before the door bangs against the wall. Camille stands next to the bed, in the midst of rolling Sebastian onto his stomach, and the other federal Agent stands on the other side of the bed, silencer gun already trained on Magnus.

Damn it. He should know by now to always go for the worst case scenario.

“Hands up and move to the other side of the room, Magnus,” Camille instructs, not even looking up from her current task.

Once she has Sebastian completely turned over, she stands up with her hands on her hips as if to admire her handy work. Magnus complies without complaint, his hands up as he switches places with the federal agent who doesn’t lower their gun from him the whole time. Magnus still can’t remember his name and debates following Simon’s lead with perps and referring to them as Bad Guy.

“Do you know how common it is for coma patients to accidentally suffocate in their sleep when unattended? Especially when they’ve turned in their sleep?”

Camille looks up now with a critical gaze. Even though her question is rhetorical, the cheeky smile on her lips makes it obvious that she is looking for some sort of response from Magnus.

“Being a double agent and informant for the Silent Brothers is pretty low, even for you Camille. Is the money worth all of those lives that you endanger?”

Her smile disappears as she rolls her eyes, clearly uncaring about what Magnus thinks she should be doing morally. “Clearly you still don’t know a thing about me Mags, or else you’d know that I do more than just endanger lives.”

It’s a small comment but loaded with the admission that Camille is sometimes the person that pulls the trigger for the Silent Brothers. It’s not even about the money and that puts a gross taste in Magnus’s mouth. It’s all about the power to her, about being in control and the smartest person in the room. Not for the first time, Magnus wonders what he ever saw in her that allowed their not actual relationship to last for years.

“Though, your morality about the _right_ thing to do still remains endearing all these years later.”

“Where should I take him out, boss?”

Camille pulls her gun out in the blink of an eye, pointing it with a steady and well practiced hand at Bad Guy who stands in the corner of the room, near the door. “ _You_ are not allowed to kill him.”

She looks over at Magnus, gun still pointed at Bad Guy next to the right of her. “I really hoped you’d stay away long enough for us to cover our tracks but no worries. I always have at least three back up plans. It’s really interesting how intertwined your squad is on a personal level with Sebastian… Weren’t Jace’s biological parents leaders in the Circle Mob? Isabelle’s father too? I mean Luke married Sebastian’s mother after all and come on, Clary is literally his own blood. The motives practically write themselves. Perhaps the Silent Brother’s informant has been in your squad the whole time… perhaps the entire nine-nine is on the payroll and couldn’t afford for the key witness to share his knowledge.”

It’s a little far fetched but also not entirely far off with all the odd ties that the nine-nine has with the Silent Brothers and their subsections. It’d come down to Camille’s word against theirs and they both know the weight that the words of federal agents have in court.

“And perhaps, I went out to grab a bite for lunch and came back to see you smothering Sebastian so I shoot you in the leg so-”

All of a sudden, the metal hospital room door wildly flings opens, hitting Bad Guy right in the chest and the pointed coat hooks on the back hits their head hard, blood immediately beginning to flow from their wounds. The surprise of the action causes them to pull the trigger on the gun in their hand, the bullet goes a little wide and misses Magnus head to hit his right bicep, before they crumple to the floor.

“I NEVER ENTERED ANY CASES INTO OUR SYSTEM THAT MENTIONED SEBASTIAN OR EVEN THE SILENT BROTHERS! CAMILLE MUST BE LISTENING IN ON OUR CONVERSATIONS SOMEHOW - SHE HAS GOTTA BE THE MOLE!” Simon yells as he loudly announces his entrance to the room. He takes a split second to take in the room, the flatline on Sebastian’s heart rate monitor, the gun in Camille’s hand that is pointed now on him, and the body that he hit that lies on the ground. “Shit.”

Magnus has no idea what that entrance was intended to accomplish but the sight of Simon and the fact that he took out Bad Guy (accidentally) fills Magnus with a bit of relief, the pain in his arm not even registering.

Camille grins coldly over her shoulder at Magnus. “Thanks for living up to the sentimental queer stereotype.”

He can’t even process that weird comment for she quickly shoots two bullets at Simon who jumps diagonally forwards and to the floor, out of the way. Magnus pulls his taser out of his pocket but knows he will have a very small window of time to take his shot at Camille with either his bad arm or his left.

She moves her arm, angling her gun towards Magnus and where Simon dodged and Magnus know he has little to no chance. He has a split second to make up his mind. He lunges forward, shoving with all his strength at Sebastian’s hospital bed, causing it to roll forward and hit Camille in the thighs. It knocks her off balance and her shot goes wide as well, missing both of them, and the bullets hits the ceiling. The high pitched scream of an alert echoes through the hallways and into their room.

“Fuck,” Camille mutters under her breath. She trains her gun on the down federal agent, shooting Bad Guy in the neck. “I’ll be back for you two, I promise,” she threatens before dashing out of the hospital room.

The pain of trying to break his fall with his arms, bullet wound and all, suddenly catches up with Magnus and he falls all the way to the floor. He grunts in misery, trying to push the pain down and out of the way to get up and renew the chase. He has to get Camille. He has to stop her. He knows she meant what she said, that she won’t stop until either they catch her or she catches them. If Magnus is positive about anything about Camille it is that she is fiercely determined and never breaks a promise.

The one time that she did break a promise, it was in their last year together. She promised to go to the NYC Pride Parade with Magnus but work called her away last minute so she couldn’t. She gave him a little bisexual flag, the same one that sits on his desk right now back in the nine-nine, as an apology for not being able to make it even though he understood that work sometimes calls.

Wait, that is probably exactly how Camille knew so much about the inner workings of the case, how it seemed that she had ears _in_ the nine-nine itself. It’s because she did - her own. The flag is definitely bugged. Fuck, her comment makes so much sense now and he feels so stupid.

Simon’s voice sounds so far away as Magnus finishes compartmentalizing the pain and pushing himself up. Once up, he realizes that Simon is mumbling something about needing to apply pressure to the wound before Magnus bleeds out, so he complies briefly so Simon can wrap a pillow case, presumably from Sebastian’s bed, around Magnus’s arm and tie it tight.

He hears a gunshot and then another from out in the hallway, unsure if they are from the police or Camille. He looks up to the doorway, surprised to see a police officer there when he didn’t even hear them approach. His brain begins processing speech again as he hears the officer talk into their walkie talkie, “Officer Raj here. We seemed to have lost her in the hospital somehow. It’s like she just vanished. Don’t let anyone leave until they’ve been cleared as not her. I’m going to take statements now. Over.”

Magnus sees the entirety of the nine-nine appear around the officer in the doorway, all with varying expressions of fear and worry. He knows that they probably left the precinct the moment they got his text, if not sooner depending on if Simon actually did get to talk to them. Magnus is surprised that their alive and concerned faces bring him a little bit of relief at the realization that his squad is _okay_ and truly cares for him.

“Fuck. We’re totally going to have to go into Witness Protection if they don’t get Camille soon,” Simon mutters and Magnus hadn’t even thought of that.

Without a doubt, Simon is right which makes Magnus feel useless in terms of helping further this case because their _lives_ are at stake. He can’t help but echo Simon’s thought: fuck indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to every single one of you that read this fic - my little holiday gift to you all!!! i hope that you enjoyed it and are intrigued for what is ahead for our characters!!
> 
> PLEASE share your thoughts, excitement, sadness, with me in the comments!! I hope to finish the final chapter by the end of this last season of shadowhunters and will most definitely be fueled by YOU!!!
> 
> filled with gratitude for all my support, happiness about this story's directions, and love for you all!!!
> 
> also support and love and reblog alice's amazing gifs on tumblr [here!!!!](http://meliorn.tumblr.com/post/181353530569/shadowhunters-99-chapter-2-the-daring)


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